Gala axes 300 jobs
02 July 2009 09:30
Leisure group Gala Coral is cutting up to 200 administrative staff and confirmed it is reviewing the future of five of its 153 bingo clubs, putting another 100 jobs in jeopardy. The news comes despite the group's recent legal victory enabling it to recoup £60 million in VAT.
The job cuts follow the group's restructure last November which resulted in five operating divisions shrinking to three spanning Coral, two gaming operations and remote gambling.
Gala announced the new job losses as its chairman met with Treasury officials in a bid to persuade them to reverse the hike in bingo duty in the recent Budget, which is forecast to cost the bingo industry around £20 million a year.
Excluding the new closures, the group has already closed 13 bingo clubs and four casinos since the smoking ban. Gala Coral Group could sell another 40 to 50 clubs, many of them former cinemas, in order to focus on more modern, flat-floor venues.
The group is controlled by private equity firms Candover, Cinven and Permira.
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