Rank, the gaming giant behind Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos, has confirmed that the snow and freezing conditions have had a significant effect on its business with visitors down nearly a third. Bingosupermarket readers will not be surprised with the details as we did speak to a number of clubs during the period and provide several updates from our findings.

Mecca Bingo has seen the number of visits to their bingo clubs decline by 32% in the week ending 5th December as the UK saw some of the harshest weather in several decades. The company added that cumulative visits for the nine weeks to the 5th December were now down 5% which has stripped away the recent improvements in the bingo business.

The gaming giant had previously reported that visits were up for the first time in more than a decade for the first 6 months of 2010 as the company had implemented a program of rebranding 6 of its bingo clubs to the new Full House format with the aim to attract younger customers.

The bingo industry has had to deal with a number of challenges over recent years with the smoking ban and tough tax rules in the UK making it difficult for bingo clubs to operate profitably. In addition changes to legislation and competition from the online industry have meant that bingo clubs have to look towards changes in the way they operate in order to survive.

Mecca Bingo have reported that overall in their 103 bingo clubs that revenues are down just 1% in the nine week period as customers spent 4% more per visit as the company improved its food and drink products. Like for like sales increase by 3% for the parent company as Grosvenor Casinos and the online operations showed strong performances.

Grosvenor Casinos posted a 3% rise in like-for-like customer visits and 8% hike in revenues. Growth in visits at the 36 casinos also showed weak results in the 9 week period when compared to previous periods although the amount spent by each customer increased by 5%.

Rank has rebranded 13 casinos to the G Casino concept. The idea is to try and attract customers who want a night out as well as a bet and the company plans to open 20 open by 2012.