Bulletin Box
With the season now in full swing I am very pleased with our four FECs (at Weston, Burnham on Sea and Ilfracombe). All four venues have been reequipped with particular emphasis on children’s ‘ticket redemption’ prize machines and these are proving a big hit with the holiday makers.
At our inland AGC venues Steve Lawrence and his new Operations team are now getting up into top gear on all fronts and again this is having a very positive effect on the business. Similarly Kevin Hamilton and his Beacon Bingo team are producing some great results, not only at the Club venues but also in terms of our on-line ‘BeaconBingo on-line’ web site.
When we bought Beacon we were confident that we would be able to identify considerable synergies between the two businesses and this has been the case. Les Brydon, one of my former Regional Directors from Talarius has been working with us on a consultancy basis, spearheading the integration of the two businesses and this initiative is going well.
When we purchased Beacon there was a live deal to sell the Streatham Bingo club to a private operator. Having reviewed the club and its potential we decided to abort this deal and we are now working hard to breathe new life into the business in Streatham and to allow the Club to reach its potential earnings targets. This is starting to come through now and the venue will now make a serious contribution to group EBITDA.
Nick Harding
August 2010