A recent purchase by ex Gala Bingo man, Brain Mattingly, saw him take control of three Riva Bingo clubs and three Beacon Bingo halls. In an effort to streamline the business Beacon Bingo re-launch Riva bingo clubs in the same name. The change of name from Riva to Beacon Bingo takes place on 1st October and will feature the Beacon Bingo torch on the hall frontage.
Beacon Bingo was original owned by the Thomas family but in August 2006, under the pressure of mounting debt, this was sold to Riva Bingo for a reported £80 million. Brian Mattingly managed to secure a lucrative deal for the purchase of the three Beacon Bingo halls and the three Riva bingo halls and is said to have spent far less then the price paid in 2006.
The three Riva Bingo halls are in Brighton, Streatham and Lowestoft and the three Beacon Bingo halls are located in Cricklewood, Northampton and Loughborough. Some of the new Beacon Bingo halls are currently undergoing major refurbishments and the same can be said for the online bingo side of things as the Beacon Bingo web site is due to be re-launched in early November 2009.
As Beacon Bingo re-launch Riva Bingo clubs they have sent out over 95,000 new membership cards to existing bingo players and the mail shot includes details of some impressive bingo promotions for those players who prefer their bingo at a land based bingo hall rather than internet bingo.
Although Beacon Bingo doesn’t as yet have a pay to play internet bingo site, is it something we could see in the not too distant future? It’s very likely as many of the established offline bingo halls already have a presence in the world of internet bingo.