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Buzz Bingo is a chain of bingo clubs in Great Britain owned by Caledonia Investments. It has 92 locations.^[1] Formerly operating as Gala Bingo clubs, they were re-branded as Buzz Bingo clubs in September 2018, whilst the Gala brand continues to run its own online bingo and casino offerings under the ownership of GVC Holdings.^[2]

History[edit]

Buzz Bingo has undergone several changes in ownership and branding including through acquisitions. They were originally Coral branded, a division of Bass plc. In 1983, there were 22 clubs and 24 located in their Pontins holiday camps.^[3]

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The ownership acquisitions included a chain of 80 bingo clubs from Thorn EMI for £18.2 million in 1983,^[3] followed by another 30 by purchasing Zetters Leisure for £23 million in 1988.^[4]Granada plc's chain of 74 bingo clubs were added in 1991 for £147 million.^[5][6] This merger with Granada led to the company rebranding as Gala Clubs later that year.^[7] Gala was officially launched on 17 October 1991 when 17 clubs re-branded and launched a new image. There followed a series of further acquisitions under the Gala brand, including 17 clubs from Ritz in July 1998, 10 clubs from Jarglen in March 2000 and 27 Riva Bingo Clubs from First Leisure for £90 million in April 2000.

Towards the end of 2000, Gala then began a series of expansions outside of their bingo operations, with casinos from the Hilton Group in December 2000 and the Jamba Online business in 2001.^[8] This was later followed by a series of private equity sales of the company starting in February 2003 to the private equity firms Candover and Cinven.^[9]Permira bought a stake in the company in August 2005, which valued the business at £1.89 billion.^[10] In October 2005, Gala acquired Coral Eurobet for £2.18 billion and changed its name to Gala Coral Group, creating the United Kingdom's third largest bookmaker and largest bingo operator.^[11]

By 2015, Gala Coral was acquired by its rival Ladbrokes,^[12] but the Gala Bingo clubs were not part of the merger, and were subsequently sold to Caledonia Investments for £241 million in December 2015.^[13][14] This meant that the clubs used the Gala brand under licence from the Ladbrokes-Coral group and decided during 2018 to re-brand as Buzz Bingo.^[15]

Operations[edit]

Buzz Bingo now operates all the clubs previously on the High Street as Gala Bingo and launched its own online bingo, buzzbingo.com offering shortly after the rebrand was completed.^[2]

References[edit]

1. ^'Visit a Club'. Buzz Bingo. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
2. ^ ^ab'Gala Leisure to relaunch all clubs as Buzz Bingo with two-year £40 million investment plan'. coinslot.co.uk. International Coin Slot. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
3. ^ ^abBatchelor, Charles (10 September 1983). 'Bass buys Thorn EMI bingo'. Financial Times. London – via NewsBank.
4. ^Harris, Clay (7 June 1988). 'Bass pays 23 million pounds for bingo clubs'. Financial Times. London – via NewsBank.
5. ^Churchill, David (11 May 1991). 'Bass reshuffling its gambling interests'. Financial Times. London – via NewsBank.
6. ^'Granada Tooting, London'. Cinema Organ Society. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
7. ^Ashworth, Jon (23 September 1991). 'Bass seeks full house in Gala opening'. The Times. London – via NewsBank.
8. ^'Gala will spend £3m to make Jamba pay-to-play'. Brand Republic. 7 November 2001. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
9. ^'Bingo group bought in £1.25bn deal'. BBC. 7 February 2003. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
10. ^'Permira Funds buy stake in Gala'. Permira. 1 August 2005. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
11. ^'Casino group Gala snaps up Coral'. BBC. 7 October 2005. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
12. ^'Ladbrokes to merge with smaller rival Coral'. BBC News. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
13. ^David Cook (27 October 2015). 'Gala Bingo acquisition 'strange', says consultant'. Gambling Insider. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
14. ^'Caledonia Investments completes Gala Bingo acquisition'. Morningstar. Alliance News. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
15. ^Zee, Carl (29 June 2018). 'Gala Leisure Rebrands Iconic Gala Bingo Clubs as Buzz Bingo'. Gambling.com. Retrieved 29 September 2018.

External links[edit]

Best Playtech Bingo Site in 2021 BingoPort Awards

Buzz Bingo: a review of offers, bonuses and promos

Buzz Bingo has recently been launched as the newest face of Britain's brick-and-mortar clubs. The new brand has a shiny new website to go along with the clubs, and you can play online and in-branch with just one membership! Get a fantastic welcome offer and make online bingo as simple as playing on your local high street with a choice of payment options.

Review contents

In this review:

Sites Like Buzz Bingo Cards

Buzz Bingo at a glance

How good is the welcome bonus?

Buzz Bingo is currently offering a very special limited-time offer! Play just £5 to get £15 Bonus on The Voice UK Bingo + 50 Spins on LuckyU

Free bingo for eligible customers successfully completing registration. Welcome offer for new customers only. Deposit & spend £5 on bingo tickets (Bingo Millions variants excluded), get £15 bingo bonus and 50 bonus spins. Bonus spins can only be used on LuckyU slot at Buzzbingo.com. 1 spin = 5p (5 lines x 1p). Bonus is non withdrawable. Payment restrictions and T&Cs apply. 18+ BeGambleAware.org

What are the promotions like?

There are a good range of promotions advertised on Buzz Bingo, including bonus spins giveaways, Slot of the Week, and the Buzz Bingo Gameshow Wheel where players can win prizes. There are special bingo games regularly on several days of the week, including penny tickets, big jackpots, and fun chat games.

• Slot of the Week. Stake the minimum amount on the featured slot, and you could win a share of a huge jackpot!
• Stake for Bonus. Stake on the featured slot with these promotions, and you’ll get bonus spins!
• Free Bingo Thursdays. For a few hours every Thursday, look out for Free Bingo games!

What games can I play?

Buzz Bingo has bingo rooms, slot games, and digital casino games, all easy to explore in the games lobby.

Some of our favourites are:

• Flash Bingo. Blink and you’ll miss this mega-fast 90-ball bingo game
• Bingo Millions. Get your tickets for a jackpot starting at £1.5 million
• Candy Burst. Match sweets like butterscotches and humbug mints for a slots win
• Read All About It. Exclusive to Buzz Bingo, this tabloid-themed slot is news-worthy

Learn more about the differences between software providers.

Can I play on mobile?

Buzz Bingo is fully responsive and works well on mobile devices. There is also an app available for free if that’s more your style. Buzz Bingo is easy to take on the go.

What customer support is available?

If you need help and support, there are various ways you can get in touch with the Buzz Bingo team:

• FAQs. See if your question has been previously answered in the FAQs. Find them by clicking the Help button on the banner at the bottom of the screen.
• Email. You can email the team at support@buzzbingo.com. They ask that you include your membership number, full name, date of birth, address, and contact number to help them answer your query.
• Phone. You can contact by phone on 0808 169 1459 between 8am and 10pm.

How can I pay to play?

Gala Bingo

Buzz Bingo offers a number of payment methods to help you make deposits quickly and conveniently, including:

• Visa Debit
• PayPal
• Paysafecard

Minimum deposit and withdrawal on the site are both £5.

The site is proud of its commitment to responsible gaming with links to Gambling Commission, BeGambleAware.org, and Gam Stop – so you can get help if you need it.

What’s Buzz Bingo got that other bingo sites haven’t?

Buzz Bingo’s joining together of online and in-club bingo is impressive, especially with their dual-channel welcome offer. If you like to mix up your online play with a few trips to the bingo hall, Buzz will allow you to manage your two bingo fixes easily without having to open a million accounts.

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Buzz Bingo runs on the Playtech Bingo software platform like a lot of other well know bingo brands which include Mecca Bingo, Gala Bingo and bet365 Bingo.

Final thoughts on Buzz Bingo

Buzz Bingo is a fresh-faced site that values a high quality player experience. Its multi-channel approach to bingo means that it has adapted to the modern bingo market incredibly well, and hopefully, this is indicative of a bingo company who values future-proofing just as much as flashy instant grabs.