The casino industry has been left reeling after yesterday’s announcement of further coronavirus restrictions, which have seen the government impose a blanket 10pm curfew on their venues. Responding to the measures, The Rank Group has called upon the government to urgently consider expanding the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to support businesses affected by the new measures. Earlier this week, London …
Read More »
Rank Group has strengthened its commitment to supporting unpaid carers across the UK after extending its partnership with Carers Trust through until 2021. Since its inception more than six years ago in February 2014, Rank colleagues and customers have raised £2.6 million for the charity, with the money raised benefiting over 12,000 unpaid carers. Over the last 12 months, Rank …
Read More »
Rank Group Plc has issued a market update as it begins to reopen its Mecca Bingo venues across England from Saturday 4 July. Absorbing COVID-19 impacts and costs, Rank stated that its group underlying profits will fall at the lower end of its provided £48-58 million guidance for the year ending 30 June 2020. Despite the closure of its entire …
Read More »
Rank Group has ‘gifted’ its sponsorship of League One football team Ipswich Town FC to Carers Trust, with the charity’s logo due to feature prominently on the team’s home kit for the 2020-21 season. The team’s shirt currently features the logo of Rank online casino subsidiary, Magical Vegas. The sponsorship was donated to raise awareness of the organisation which supports …
Read More »
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has called for ministers to guarantee the reopening of UK casinos in July to avoid industry job losses. BGC CEO Michael Dugher re-emphasised that UK casinos had undertaken all necessary steps to ensure that venues are ‘covid proof’ and able to reopen safely in July, with the majority of UK leisure and hospitality businesses. …
Read More »
Rank Group has announced that it will begin the ‘phased reopening’ of its Mecca Bingo venues operating across England from 4 July. In accordance with the government’s public safety measures, 36 Mecca venues will reopen on 4 July across England, as Rank re-establishes its retail footprint having been forced to close all gambling venues from mid-March as the UK entered …
Read More »
John O’Reilly, Chief Executive of Rank Group, has stated his disbelief at the UK government refusing to allow England’s casinos to reopen on 4 July, as previously anticipated and prepared for by licensed operators. Rank’s CEO branded the government’s latest easing orders on leisure and hospitality venues as ‘baffling’ and ‘incoherent’, with the government allowing England’s bingo venues to reopen …
Read More »
Amid COVID-19 disruptions, Rank Group has revealed that it is ‘preparing for difficult trading conditions’ when it reopens its venues. Publishing a trading update for the quarter to 31 March 2020, Rank’s like-for-like net gaming revenue was down 4% for the quarter, while total NGR saw an increase of 5%. Rank Group has predicted that annual underlying operating profit will amount …
Read More »
Rank Group Plc is the latest gaming industry incumbent to issue a COVID-19 update to investors, today citing a slowdown in UK venue trading over the last three weeks. The LSE operator stated that despite the slowdown its UK venue portfolio of Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo ‘remained profitable last week’. Following the UK government’s civil advice to avoid leisure …
Read More »
Rank Group has praised further growth across its digital division, with the group reporting growth in NGR and operating profit of 14% and 117% respectively. Publishing its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2019, Rank attributed the 10% year-on-year lift in net gaming revenue (NGR) to the progress made on the group’s transformation programme. John O’Reilly, Chief …
Read More »
SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry