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Buzz Bingo to Restructure Retail Portfolio

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Buzz Bingo today announces a proposal to restructure its retail estate through the implementation of a company voluntary arrangement (‘CVA’). This follows a period of productive consultation with Buzz Bingo’s various stakeholders, including its landlords, aimed at securing a sustainable long-term future for the business following the outbreak of Covid-19 and resultant lockdown.

Under the proposed terms of the CVA, while the majority of clubs (91) will continue to trade, 26 clubs will close permanently due to what the company expects will be an unsustainable operating environment for the foreseeable future.

Across the rest of the portfolio, Buzz Bingo has been engaged in constructive dialogue with landlords to better align the rents of certain clubs relative to forecast trading. Regrettably, the proposed CVA will potentially impact 573 of Buzz’s c.3400 colleagues across the business, whom Buzz Bingo is committed to supporting at this difficult time.

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The challenges facing businesses at this unprecedented time of lockdown due to COVID-19 are well understood. Like many others in the leisure and entertainment sector, Buzz Bingo was forced to close all its clubs across the UK, which have remained closed since Saturday 21 March. It put immediate measures in place: minimising costs where possible, reducing senior management pay and making use of the Government’s furlough scheme for the vast majority of employees.

Despite this, Buzz Bingo’s daily operations and its ability to generate revenues from its retail club portfolio has been severely impacted.

While Buzz Bingo intends to commence the reopening of its clubs from 6 August, it expects that it will take time for footfall to return to pre Covid-19 levels due to social distancing measures and customer confidence to socialise indoors taking time to rebuild, particularly among Buzz Bingo’s customer group.

The management believe the proposed CVA provides the best possible outcome for all of Buzz Bingo’s stakeholders as it looks to secure a sustainable long-term future for the business and its remaining c.2800 employees.

Buzz Bingo’s owner, Caledonia Investments, has indicated its willingness to provide an additional £22m of equity capital (in addition to the £5m that it invested in Buzz Bingo in May, 2020) once the CVA becomes effective. The new equity capital will be augmented with an additional £10m of debt provided by Buzz Bingo’s existing lender.

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Chris Matthews, Chief Executive, Buzz Bingo commented: 

“The ongoing pandemic has had far-reaching consequences for the entire leisure and hospitality sector and an immediate and significant impact on our business. 

Following a thorough review of our options, the proposed CVA will restructure our retail portfolio to ensure we are well positioned for a return to growth, while adapting to the ongoing, challenging environment as we start to reopen the majority of our clubs.

Our lenders are supporting our plans and our owners, Caledonia will be investing into the new structure to further strengthen our future business.

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The restructure will, very sadly, impact a number of our colleagues and my priority is to support all those affected and keep them fully informed as we continue with this process. I would like to thank every single one of our colleagues for their continued understanding and commitment over this period.”

 

Melanie Leech, Chief Executive, British Property Federation (BPF) comments:

“These situations are never easy, particularly now for the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on our high streets at the sharp end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Property owners, however, need to take into consideration the impact on their investors, including the millions of people whose savings and pensions are invested in commercial property, as they vote on any CVA proposal. 

Buzz Group and AlixPartners engaged with the BPF before launching this CVA proposal. This has provided us an opportunity to improve understanding of property owners’ interests and concerns, but ultimately it will be for individual property owners to decide how they will vote on the CVA.”

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Buzz Bingo will seek creditor approval of the CVA Proposal which is due on 3rd August. The online business will continue to trade as usual during this period.

 

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TENTENSEVEN MARKETING AGENCY LAUNCHES WITH €500K INVESTMENT FROM THE UNIT

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As part of The Unit’s company restructure, its highly successful in-house marketing division will be launched as an agency serving iGaming and sports betting industries

The Unit, a leader in product design and development for sports betting and iGaming, has invested €500,000 to launch marketing agency tentenseven. This exciting transformation of The Unit’s in-house marketing division marks the latest step in its growth strategy and expansion roadmap.

Following an expansion in The Unit’s marketing offering, the marketing team will now operate as tentenseven, which will stand as its own entity. On top of paid search and marketing planning, tentenseven will offer SEO, PPC, social media, brand strategy, editorial content, influencer marketing services and social media production among its many areas of expertise.

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Feargal Byrne, Director of Strategic Marketing at The Unit, will head up the new phase of growth at tentenseven as Director of iGaming, Ecommerce and Fintech.

In January, The Unit announced a refresh of its visual brand identity, including a new company logo and redesigned website, which reflected the company’s recent growth and ambitious expansion plans. These expansion plans were signified by the recent opening of The Unit’s North American hub in New York City. As part of the brand refresh, the company is focusing on product design and development, with the marketing side of the business now operating as a standalone agency.

Paddy Casey, Co-founder at The Unit, said: “After kicking off 2025 with our brand refresh, we are redefining our structure as a business. With additional funding in place, we think now is the right time for tentenseven to stand in its own right as a marketing leader in the industry. With this investment, tentenseven has the means to grow and maximise its potential in the coming years. We expect to see tentenseven expand in the short and long-term, just as we expect with The Unit.

“In his time with The Unit, Feargal has demonstrated his ability to help clients develop their marketing strategies, establishing channel-level approaches across PPC, social and SEO. Feargal is perfectly positioned to run tentenseven and steward the company into this new and exciting era.”

Feargal Byrne added: “I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead tentenseven as Director of iGaming, Ecommerce and Fintech.

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“This is an exciting period for The Unit as a company, and with this significant investment, tentenseven will have the capability to expand and make further headway in the market. That’s great news not just for us, but also for our clients. I can’t wait to get started on this project with the team and I look forward to putting our plans for tentenseven into action as quickly as possible.”

The post TENTENSEVEN MARKETING AGENCY LAUNCHES WITH €500K INVESTMENT FROM THE UNIT appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Compliance Updates

UKGC Launches Latest Consultation on Gaming Machine Technical Standards

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The Gambling Commission has launched a new consultation aimed at making gambling in Britain safer and fairer.

This is the Commission’s third consultation to implement proposals from the 2023 Gambling Act Review White Paper High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age.

The consultation, which will run for 16 weeks (from 29 January 2025 to 20 May 2025), is focussed on the gaming machine technical standards and the related testing strategy. It includes proposals to:

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• introduce five new standards, a licence condition and a social responsibility code provision designed to support and empower consumers to use gaming machines safely at every stage of the customer journey – this includes proposals on time and monetary limit setting functionality and information provision such as safer gambling messaging and the display of net position and session time

• amend three existing standards having considered industry proposals to improve customer enjoyment and gameplay

• consolidate the existing 12 gaming machine technical standards into a single standard, whilst amending the format to be more consistent with our Remote gambling and software technical standards for greater clarity

• update the gaming machine technical standards and the related testing strategy to remove obsolete material.

Tim Miller, Gambling Commission Executive Director for research and policy, said: “The White Paper sets out that a top priority is ensuring that gambling happens safely. We share this commitment and today’s consultation proposes how we could implement gaming machine changes in the land-based sector.

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“We recognise that regulatory changes that impact the design of machines can come with considerable costs. We are encouraging consumers, gambling businesses and other interested groups to share evidence that will assist us in measuring both the likely regulatory impacts of the proposed changes and the likely costs of implementing them. This evidence will be invaluable to helping make a robust assessment on whether the benefits to consumers are proportionate to the costs involved.”

The post UKGC Launches Latest Consultation on Gaming Machine Technical Standards appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Compliance Updates

Permanent Secretary for the Economy Visits MGA Offices

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On Tuesday, 28 January 2025, the newly appointed Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for the Economy, Enterprise, and Strategic Projects, Mr Godwin Mifsud, paid an official visit to the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA/Authority) offices at SmartCity. He was greeted by MGA CEO Charles Mizzi, alongside members of the MGA Executive Committee and staff.

During his visit, Mr Mifsud was given a tour of the Authority’s offices and had the opportunity to engage directly with team members from various departments. These interactions provided him with a deeper understanding of their responsibilities, the core functions of each department and the challenges they face in their day-to-day work.

The MGA CEO outlined the Authority’s strategic direction to Mr Mifsud and shared details of key projects currently underway, as well as those planned for the future.

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The post Permanent Secretary for the Economy Visits MGA Offices appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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