The Lyric Bingo club in Wellingborough is the latest bingo club to close after poor trading and crippling overheads.  Although the UK bingo market has shown recent signs of recovery and a small drop in taxation, local community based bingo clubs are still struggling and it has become a survival of the fittest.

The bingo club situated in the town centre of Wellingborough was owned and managed by a former Gala manager Tony Wood.  Unfortunately the club has succumbed to the overheads including rent, service charge and the business rates been cited as the major contributing factors. Obviously the smoking ban, legislative changes as well as taxation made its impact 2 years ago and has been unable to recover. 

The closure will cause upset to the loyal bingo players that have attended the club for many years and the dedicated team of 12 staff will lose their jobs.

The Lyric club has been under the current management for a period of three years, formerly owned and operated by Brent Harding and John Wiley. 

There are no plans for the club to re-open as buyers for clubs of this size are very few and far between. The small potential profit margins of a club of this scale will only suit an owner operator, but the costs of applying for new licenses causes the entry level to running a bingo club too high for individuals without deep pockets. 

Tony Wood commented on the lyric website "Sad to say, the days of Bingo in Wellingborough have come to an end.  I would like to say thank you to all the staff who have kept the club together over the last three years.  Barbi has been there 22 years, so for her this has come as shock, but not unexpected".