The chancellor is putting an “intergenerational” leisure sector in jeopardy, argues Buzz Bingo chief Dominic Mansour as the threat of tax rises in the next budget becomes ever-more vocal. It’s an existential threat, he warns; it could force not just the possible loss of a popular nationwide high street presence, but a crucial offering that goes far beyond entertainment for the local community.

Dominic Mansour, chief executive of Buzz Bingo, has warned that a new gambling tax could shut down bingo halls across the country.

Fears are growing within the sector that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will extend a planned tax crackdown to include bingo clubs in next month’s Budget. Mansour said the proposals could have devastating effects on local communities and investment in the sector. He warned that the tax raid “would hit investment and even lead to the closure of bingo halls – costing jobs and robbing communities of a vital hub.”

Writing in the Daily Mail, Mansour argued that bingo plays an important social role.

“The real cost of higher taxes isn’t just financial. When a bingo club closes, not only does a local employer disappear, but the community loses an important hub that has a role in tackling loneliness,” he explained. “It offers older and more vulnerable people somewhere to belong. It’s one of the few genuinely intergenerational activities left, and in towns where many pubs, libraries and community centres have disappeared, that matters.”

Over the last decade the bingo sector has evolved significantly, attracting the next generation through rebranding, innovation and investment – a success story that now hangs in the balance. 

“We’re investing more than £50 million over a three-year modernisation programme because we believe bingo has a long-term role to play in British life. That investment supports growth, jobs and local enterprise, the very ambitions the Chancellor has set out for a pro-growth Britain,” concluded Mansour. “Taxing bingo more heavily would cut directly against that agenda and put this investment at risk.”

A threat to high street investment 

Dominic Mansour said…… “We’re investing more than £50 million over a three-year modernisation programme because we believe bingo has a long-term role to play in British life…Taxing bingo more heavily would cut directly against that agenda and put this investment at risk……