Rank Group has closed nine Mecca Bingo venues across financial year 2025/26 as it battles a toughening taxation environment across the United Kingdom.
Eight of those closures came in a single wave during June 2026, with the shuttering of Mecca Bingo Scarborough in November 2025 bringing the full-year total to nine.
CEO Richard Harris, who took over from John O’Reilly on an interim basis in January before being confirmed as permanent CEO in July, has overseen all eight of the June closures.
Harris was direct about the reasoning, stating: “These clubs were either loss-making or not commercially viable, so we took the difficult decision to close.”
He also noted some encouragement, expressing gladness at having seen “positive transfer” of customers from closed premises to other nearby Mecca venues, “where that has been geographically possible.”
Harris elaborated further on the decision-making process, explaining: “In those cases, I didn’t see a path to positive cash generation over the course of that next five-year time period.”
He added that most of the closed properties “had quite significant property liabilities or lease events or something that made it quite difficult to see cash generation being particularly strong in that five-year time period.”
The consolidation may not yet be complete, with employees at Grosvenor Casino in Reading recently informed that a consultation is underway regarding the venue’s future.
UK remote gaming duty rising to 40% since April 2026 has increased the pressure on Rank’s retail operations, which remain the largest segment of the business.
The nine shuttered venues generated £12.6m in revenue during FY26 before closing, representing around 1.5% of total net revenue and nearly 9% of Mecca’s net revenue segment alone.
Despite the disruption, Mecca’s underlying operating profit more than doubled from £4.3m in 2024/25 to £8.9m in 2025/26, a remarkable 107% year-on-year rise.
Mecca revenue also grew 4% year-on-year in both Q4 and across the full financial year, suggesting the remaining estate is performing well following the restructure.
With nine closures complete, Harris suggested that for Mecca’s surviving venues, the cuts may be drawing to a close, noting that “around 40 venues is about right” in the current tax climate.
Harris indicated that the group remains willing to back those surviving clubs, praising the “higher quality Mecca estate” and confirming the group is “happy to invest” going forward.
Gaming machines now account for 42% of Mecca’s net revenue, making the potential doubling of machine gaming duty from 20%, as mooted by the Social Market Foundation, a serious concern.
Harris warned explicitly: “Any increase to the rate will further impact venue viability across both Grosvenor and Mecca and will lead to a reduction in tax receipts within 12 months.”
Rank’s full-year underlying operating profit reached £78.6m, marking a 21% year-on-year increase and bringing the company significantly closer to its £100m medium-term operating profit target.
Harris acknowledged that the digital segment’s contribution toward that target will be lower than previously anticipated, meaning other parts of the business must fill the gap.
Grosvenor Casinos could prove decisive, with 850 new gaming machines rolled out across venues in H1 2025/26, though Harris cautioned the full benefit takes time to materialise.
Harris noted: “Our experience from adding machines into venues in the past tells us it takes around two to three years to get to maturity,” suggesting significant upside may still be ahead.
