GAMING company Rank has put almost 10% of its Mecca bingo clubs estate up for sale as part of its efforts to prepare for the impending smoking ban in England.

Bingo halls earmarked for sale are spread across England, from South Shields in the north to Andover in the south. They are the clubs that Rank considers would be the most adversely affected when the smoking ban comes into force in England in July.

In Scotland, where a ban was introduced in March last year, revenues at Rank’s bingo halls have dropped 17%.

The company is preparing to sell about 10 of its 103 units. Its planned disposals follow Rank’s announcement in February that it would close nine sites before the ban took effect. A company spokesman said that the clubs earmarked for sale had been placed under review and that a number of options for them were being considered.

“These include selling them as a going concern, selling the sites for alternative use, or retaining them,” he said. Staff had been informed of the review.

The smoking ban is a problem for bingo operators because they make most of their profits from people playing machines during breaks in the main bingo game. When smoking is outlawed, punters will go outside for a cigarette during the break rather than staying indoors and playing machines.

Bingo halls are experimenting with hand-held games terminals and are installing machines in canopied outdoor areas in an effort to combat this.

Despite its woes north of the border, Rank sounded an upbeat note at its annual shareholders’ meeting last Thursday, revealing that group revenues were ahead 3% for the first 16 weeks of its financial year. This was despite a 1% fall in sales across its Mecca estate. Shares in the group, which also owns Grosvenor casinos and the Blue Square online-betting business, closed at 194p on Friday, valuing the business at £759.5m, and some way short of their 12-month high of 267p.

Rank is focused solely on gaming after selling off its other interests, including Hard Rock Cafe restaurants.

A lawsuit related to the Hard Rock sale was settled last month. It had been brought by the American property developer Cordish against the Seminole tribe of native Americans who acquired the dining-out chain.

Meanwhile, the British Casino Association, the industry trade body, has been given a May 17 date for the start of the judicial review it sought over the government’s gaming law shake-up. That hearing is expected to last three days.

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