Great Yarmouth and Hemsby prize bingo operator Michael Jennings has spoken about his plans to revive the seaside tradition on the Norfolk coast, with the fifth-generation Showman telling the BBC that the game provides “a nostalgia trip for the whole family.”
Michael Jennings, the fifth-generation Showman behind amusements venues in Hemsby and Great Yarmouth, is continuing to fly the flag for prize bingo in a bid to reverse a decline of the once-popular seaside pastime.
Speaking to the BBC, Jennings estimated there is now no more than 15 prize bingo sites operating across the whole of the UK, despite slot-operated bingo machines offering “a nostalgia trip for the whole family.”
“It is a labour-intensive business, you’ve got to be passionate about it,” said Jennings. “[At first] I had it in my head that it was an old person’s game. It’s not that case. It’s a nostalgia trip for the whole family.”
“The grandma and grandad come, but they fetch their children – and their children are now fetching their children. They’re creating memories. We get people coming to Yarmouth and they’re in shock that the prize bingo is back.”
Having established Lucky Strike Amusements in Hemsby, Jennings and his family took on the lease of an amusements premises on Great Yarmouth’s Golden Mile in December 2023, investing tens of thousands of pounds in improvements and prizes.
“One of the reasons we wanted to come to Yarmouth was for this,” Prize BIngo customer Michelle Fitzgerald told reporters. “It is an attraction. We miss it, it used to be great fun at the seaside. I hope it makes more of a comeback.”
Fellow player Rita Fisher agreed, adding “we so loved our games of bingo years ago and they all died out. We were so pleased when we came this week and they’d got one here. I thought it was marvellous, we came down special from the caravan park.”
Despite a challenging summer due to cost-of-living pressures and rising costs, Jennings remains hopeful for the future of prize bingo, especially in the hands of his own children, who are already primed to take over the operation.
“They’re happy with prize bingo. It’s something that a lot of people aren’t willing to do.”
“We could go and buy a chip shop, we could run a pub – anybody could do that. So let’s try and go for a little bit of a novelty – a niche market – and try and corner the market and make it work for us.”
Memories
Michael Jennings said……. “The grandma and grandad come, but they fetch their children – and their children are now fetching their children. They’re creating memories……
