Mecca Bingo Desktop Site
| Type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Gambling |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Headquarters | Maidenhead, Berkshire, England |
| United Kingdom | |
Key people | John O'Reilly |
| Products | Bingo clubs |
| Revenue | £221.5m (2015/16) |
| £32.9m (2015/16) | |
| Parent | The Rank Group |
| Website | www.meccabingo.com |
Mecca Bingo (formerly called Top Rank) is a UK-based company and operator of 76 bingo clubs located across major towns and cities. Mecca Bingo is owned by The Rank Group, which operates bingos, casinos and online gaming industries across Belgium, Spain and the UK. Rank Group also own Grosvenor Casinos and Enracha. Mecca Bingo was established in 1961, and its headquarters is in Maidenhead.[1] An extension of the Mecca Bingo brand includes meccabingo.com and a number of mobile apps. Mecca Bingo is the largest National Bingo Game operator in the UK.
As of June 2015, Mecca Bingo’s revenue was recorded at £224.4 million, with an operating profit of £28.9 million.[2] The Rank Group reports there are one million customers who visit Mecca each year, with £65.2 million revenue generated from digital. The Mecca network currently employs more than 11,000 people across the UK.[3] Their halls host traditional and electronic versions of bingo, including slot-style games. Mecca are licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission and the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.
History[edit]
Eric Morley, British TV host and founder of the Miss World pageant, is accredited with popularising the game of bingo in the United Kingdom during the early sixties, as a tactic to fill the UK’s dance halls. In 1952, he was Mecca's general manager of dancing, and was made a director in 1953. With Mecca, Morley helped to popularise bingo which was played at Mecca venues throughout the United Kingdom. He changed the company from a small catering and dancing firm into a leading entertainment and catering company in the UK. A director of the company from 1953 up until 1978, Morley left the business after a disagreement with its then parent company, Grand Metropolitan.[4]
In 1990, the Rank Organisation made an offer of £512m to acquire Mecca Leisure Group. This was initially rejected, then accepted two months later.[5] In 2007, Mecca Bingo and its parent company suffered significant losses, attributed to the implementation of the smoking ban in the UK. Rank shut nine Mecca Bingo clubs, with 230 people losing their jobs.[6] In 2015, Mecca Bingo launched a marketing campaign featuring a twerking cactus. The campaign adverts helped to increase Mecca’s digital sales by 18 per cent, year on year, in the 20 weeks to 17 May.[7]
Controversy[edit]
On 25 December 1997, members of the Muslim community in Luton, Bedfordshire, were outraged by a local bingo hall changing its name from ‘Top Rank’ to ‘Mecca,’ which is also the name of the holiest Islamic city. Protesters, angered by the link between the holy city and the practice of gambling, which is forbidden in Islam, threw bricks through the bingo hall’s windows, causing £3000 of damage.[8] Subsequently company management said the 'Mecca' name would be dropped from the bingo hall as a result of the unrest and offence caused.[9] However as of 2018, some 21 years on, the company's own branch locator on their website confirms that the Mecca brand is still being used in Luton.
In December 2015, Mecca Bingo was ordered to forfeit nearly £1 million after allowing a woman to spend up to £50,000 a month on her gambling addiction.[10]
Calling all Bingo Lovers and Slots Fans: Welcome to the award-winning Mecca Bingo App! Play today all your favourite casino slots games like Cleopatra, Da Vinci Diamonds and Reel King mini games as well as explore our many Mecca-exclusive bingo rooms and discover daily wins huge real money jackpots with fun, prize-packed promotions. The Rank Group is a gambling company based in the United Kingdom. Rank was involved in the cinema and motion picture industry until 2006, and continues to use the Gongman logo originally used by the Rank Organisation 's film distribution subsidiary General Film Distributors. Its brands now include Mecca Bingo, and Grosvenor Casinos, the UK's largest casino operator. The Rank Group plc Type.
Awards[edit]
Mecca Bingo was awarded ‘Bingo Operator of the Year’ at the 2016 International Gaming Awards.[11] It won the same award in 2014 and 2015, with Rank Group also winning ‘Socially Responsible Operator of the Year Land Based’.[12][13]
Mecca Bingo won two awards at the 2016 EGR Innovation and Marketing Awards:[14] ‘Best Native App’ and ‘Innovation in Bingo’ for their Emoji Bingo game – an App that swaps bingo balls for emojis.
In 2017 Mecca Bingo won WhichBingo awards for Best Customer Services and Most Socially Responsible, along with the EGR award for Best Mobile Bingo Product.
References[edit]
- ^'Our Business - Rank Group Plc'. www.rank.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'Mecca - Rank Group Plc'. www.rank.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'Meet the man trying to breathe new life into bingo'. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'The Long History Of Mecca Bingo'. 2009-12-10. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'The Rank Group plc - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on The Rank Group plc'. www.referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^Kollewe, Julia (2007-03-03). 'Mecca Bingo halls struggle in face of all-out smoking ban'. The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'This is how a dancing cactus has helped boost business at Mecca bingo'. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'Mecca bingo hall outrages Muslims'. 1998-01-07. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'Mecca bingo hall drops name after Muslim protests'. BBC. 1998-01-14. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'Bets pay off for Mecca bingo owner Rank Group'. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'IGA Winners 2016'. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'IGA Winners 2014'. 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'IGA Winners 2015'. 2015-01-22. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^'Winners'. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mecca Bingo Halls. |
Mecca Bingo
Spend £10, play with £50About Mecca Bingo Mecca Bingo is a household name in the UK and chances are you may have been to a Mecca club at some point. Their knowledge and skills… more
Mecca Bingo Summary
| Site Name | Mecca Bingo |
|---|---|
| Bonus Info: | Spend £10, play with £50 |
| Minimum Deposit: | £ £10 |
Full Review
About Mecca Bingo
Mecca Bingo is a household name in the UK and chances are you may have been to a Mecca club at some point. Their knowledge and skills relating to all things bingo are second to none and this is reflected in the great promotions offered and exclusive games they can offer.
The site got a complete front-end makeover in June 2015 and a more complete update, games included, in September 2016. This meant it went fully HTML5 responsive and even more features were added. Burst Bingo and Emoji Bingo became available to laptop and desktop users as well as mobile bingo players.
Singer and TV presenter Louise Redknapp is the new face of Mecca Bingo from 1st October 2016 as she fronts the new ‘We Know the Feeling’ marketing campaign.
There will be a series of TV ads and other ads across many other areas so it will be hard to miss the hype. The campaign is launched to highlight a new look logo and the revamped Mecca Bingo site and to emphasize that Mecca Bingo is a market leader in the world of online bingo as well as high street bingo.
The site is vibrant and easy to use, with great prizes and there is always something new and fun to going on with the award-winning and friendly CMs.
At Meccabingo.com you can be sure that everyone that visits will find something to suit them with its innovative games and promotions to keep you entertained. The site prides itself on the award-winning bingo chat rooms, where you can meet great new people at the same time as playing some brilliant games of online bingo.
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New player offer
When you choose to join Mecca Bingo there is a huge 400% bingo bonus on your first deposit and spend of £10 on its bingo games. Spend £10, play with £50!
You can deposit more as a newbie, but the maximum bonus available is £40 and will be triggered as soon as that first £10 has been spent on bingo.
In addition enjoy a free £10 voucher to spend in any Mecca Bingo club towards a fun night out.*
Free Bingo Room For Newbies – Mecca has a special Newbie Room which all new players can access for the first 7 days after joining – it’s free to join, there’s no deposit required to play.
This room is available between midday and 1pm and then from 6pm and 8pm each day, with jackpots of £20 bingo bonus funds on every single game! Each game is 1tg or 2tg too, so create even more winners – the Mecca way.
Playing in this room also qualifies newbies for 6 free tickets to special 9pm and 10pm £1,000 games that will take place in Two Little Ducks on Friday night. You will get a text to remind you to claim the freebies.
First deposits via Skrill and NETeller are not eligible for this New Player Bonus.
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Promotions
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Mecca Bingo Wood Green
£30k Value Night – every Thursday from 6pm in the Gold Rush room. Enjoy feature games and big jackpots right through till midnight. All games boast discount tickets that cost just 5p or less. At 6pm and 10.30pm there are big money Bingo Linx games to help you win massive money, priced at just 10p a ticket!
Mecca Bingo new look TV advert with Louise Redknapp
New TV ad launched 1st October 2016 to promote the new site:
Pablo London is the agency behind the new advertising strategy and Gareth Mercer, founding partner at Pablo, said: “The aim of the new campaign is to drive people to experience playing bingo online at Meccabingo.com.”
He went on, “The creative is based on truths around the game, the things we know players love – their rituals, the thrill, camaraderie and satisfaction we feel when playing with friends.”
On announcing the the new ‘We Know the Feeling’, Anna Shirley Marketing Director at Mecca Bingo, said:
“Mecca Bingo’s ‘We know the feeling’ campaign is all about how our customers feel when they play bingo. It’s about fun; it’s about friendship, and it’s about how we feel when we win too.”
“For bingo players, winning is about much more than the prize itself. It’s the skills needed to play, the excitement of finishing first, the fun of the game itself and the friendships that are built at our clubs and online. ”
Mecca Bingo Desktop Site Login
New face of Mecca Bingo Louise Redknapp reinforced that thinking, saying:
“My grandparents used to own a pub, and they would host Bingo in there, I have such fond memories of this time. Bingo is a game that creates a feel good feeling and now with modern technology it’s a game that you can play anywhere.”
All promotions will come with specific terms and conditions so be sure to check at the site before taking part.
Help and support
Mecca Bingo Online
- Live chat
- Tel: 0800 083 1988
- Email: support@meccabingo.com
- Post: Customer Services, PO Box 70695, London, SW1P 9ZR