Bingo is back: Market leader, Gala Leisure is to relaunch all its Gala Bingo clubs as Buzz Bingo with two-year £40 million investment plan

Gala Leisure, owners of the UK’s biggest chain of bingo clubs, which currently trade under the licensed name, Gala Bingo, has relaunched as Buzz Bingo. The re-launch comes with a surge of investment, rolling out in five clubs initially, with investment to all clubs following in the months after.

The team at Buzz Bingo, lead by Chris Matthews, CEO, and backed by Caledonia Investments, hope the re-launch will re-energise local communities and reignite the allure of bingo and the ‘buzz’ of playing, as well as attract new audiences into bingo halls across the UK.

The leadership team are also keen to show that new audiences are already attending their bingo halls in great numbers. Recent figures show that young people are spending less time on social media sites such as Facebook and more time looking for shared experiences. Despite this behavioural shift, figures indicate a surge in the number of bingo related hashtags used on social media site Instagram, which demonstrates that Bingo does have a genuine appeal to the younger generation who are keen to promote their experience. The company now want to build on that and position Buzz Bingo as a place where everybody can come together for enjoyment. Buzz Bingo promises to provide cross-generational fun for all and opportunities for players, from all backgrounds to enjoy the special, social aspect that real bingo brings.

The company decided on the new name after speaking to customers and colleagues, where it became quickly obvious that Buzz was the perfect choice. ‘Buzz’ was the one word that customers regularly used to describe their bingo experience, but it was also a word that resonated with the club teams, summing up their personality and the company’s true DNA. Outside of the focus on the re-brand of the clubs, Buzz Bingo has ambitious plans to take the fun game of bingo to a wider audience, where customers can play together, anywhere.

CEO Chris Matthews said:

“Our unique relationship with customers will always be considered at the core of our offer. There is a sense of nostalgia for a game of bingo and a sense of fun and community spirit that goes hand in hand. 

When I joined this company, I was struck by the special relationships that our customers and teams have.  I’ve never experienced anything like it in my career. It’s that feeling we want to bring to a wider audience through the launch of Buzz Bingo.

Our customers really enjoy their time with us and there is nowhere else you can go, to enjoy the combination of meeting up with friends, old and new, having a laugh with some good food and drink, all with the excitement and sense of anticipation that the game of bingo brings too – all for under £20!

Keeping this spirit of community, our customers love, is very important to us as we expand in the future, into the online space and attract a new generation of players.”

Falkirk, Clacton-On-Sea and Enfield Buzz Bingo clubs are open from today.

Gala Leisure Ltd

Gala Leisure (Gala Bingo Retail) is the UK’s largest retail bingo operator. Headquartered in Nottingham, it operates 124 clubs throughout the UK and has over 1.1 million active members. Following its sale by the Gala Coral Group for £241 million in December 2015, Gala Leisure Ltd is now owned by Caledonia Investments Plc, an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange

Gala Leisure used the Gala brand through a license agreement entered into with Gala Group Investments. Gala Leisure Ltd has now exited that agreement. The retail estate has now commenced a rebranding exercise and going forward will operate all of its clubs under the name of Buzz Bingo alongside developing an online operation.

For clarification, Galabingo.com was never part of the deal between Gala Coral and Caledonia Investments plc and those online brands remain the property of Ladbrokes Coral Group PLC and will continue to operate as part of the Ladbrokes Coral business and galabingo.com players will continue to enjoy going online to play their bingo as normal.

Chris Matthews

Chris was appointed CEO of Gala Leisure in October 2017. After successful leadership positions at Marks & Spencer and Dixons Group, Chris joined the UK’s largest outdoor retailer, GO Outdoors as Chief Executive in 2013 and focused on achieving the very best for his customers through products and an engaging customer experience, both online and in store. During his time as Chief Executive of Go Outdoors, Chris oversaw the retailer’s growth in profits and expansion to become market leader which resulted in its acquisition by JD Sports.

Caledonia Investments

Caledonia is a self-managed investment trust company listed on the London Stock Exchange with net assets of approximately £1.8bn as at 30 September 2017.  The company maintains a concentrated portfolio of international quoted, unquoted and fund investments and has paid an increasing annual dividend for 50 years.  In the unquoted arena, Caledonia seeks to invest up to £100m in private companies, either on a majority or minority basis, providing a meaningful presence and growth capital supporting double-digit operating margins. Its current unquoted portfolio includes Cobehold (a European unquoted investment house), The Liberation Group (a UK and Channel Islands pub group), Choice Care Group (a UK learning disability care homes provider) and Seven Investment Management (a provider of discretionary fund management, asset management and self-invest platform services).