A quiet revolution in bingo equipment for the UK, which has been undergoing trials for several months, has this week received the green light from the Gambling Commission.
Jimmy and Simon Thomas, whose Beacon Bingo became one of the prototypes for tomorrow’s bingo clubs, have joined forces with one of Spain’s biggest international suppliers and operators to launch a new UK company.
Games developed by Metronia, the Madrid-based giant with bingo interests throughout Spain and Central and South America, in conjunction with the Thomas’, have been on test with a principal British operator.
Now their new company, World Bingo Tech Ltd, has been formed, with the Thomas’ and Metronia’s international sales manager, Marcos Marugan, as its principals. It is Metronia’s first entry into the 600-strong British bingo clubs business.
A range of bingo terminals, for stand-alone games or for a mechanised form of bingo, has been developed by Metronia in conjunction with its UK partners.
Simon Thomas, in an exclusive interview with InterGame, commented that the UK industry has declined in recent years, but tests with the new touchscreen terminals developed in partnership with Metronia, had shown that there was still excellent business to be enjoyed in bingo if updated.
"Bingo is still a great product, a great game, but it needs to modernise. In Spain they have introduced the modern bingo concepts and the decline there has not only been arrested but new clubs are opening and profits are increasing."
*The full report on the new developments at Metronia will appear in InterGame’s Spanish Special Issue in the June edition.
