Group Divisions
Gala Casino
Gala’s casino division has 29 casinos in the UK and one casino in Gibraltar. Over the last 12 months the division has recruited over 300,000 new members, and now has a UK customer base that totals nearly 900,000 active customers, with a market share of nearly 24%. Recent independent research showed that customer service has shown an increase in overall satisfaction to 85%.
The division will continue to grow the customer base by attracting new customers, and developing new gaming products. We have recently launched Casino Magic which is a unique low stake introduction to table gaming specifically aimed at attracting new customers into the business.
The division has a loyalty programme Fortune, which will be rolled out to more casinos this financial year. Gala Casino is also providing its customers with a “journey of discovery” in its casinos, but creating eight themed zones in the casinos. These themes are Club Lounge, Jackpot, Casino Magic, Poker Magic, Epernay, 18 Below Zero, Char grill and Air Lounge. The division also runs alongside our on line business the GBPT (Great British Poker Tour ) …more details to follow. Roulette is the most popular game at our casinos, accounting for 63% of gaming income.
Gala Bingo
Gala Bingo is the market leader in the UK with a market share of 43%. Employing over 6,000 people, the division operates 162 bingo clubs visited by 1.6 million people per annum. More than three million people play bingo regularly in the UK, more than all the people than attend football matches in both the English and Scottish leagues. The Group also operates galabingo.com – the UK’s largest online bingo site and Gala TV, the UK’s first bingo TV channel.
In 2007, Gala Bingo achieved a top 20 ranking in the prestigious Sunday Times “Best Big Companies to work for” for the second year running.
Gala Bingo has always been at the forefront of innovation in the bingo industry and the division has ensured that this continues. In the clubs, Gala Bingo is innovating to keep bingo fresh and appealing. The division has introduced a new bespoke gaming platform (Gala Gaming Platform) to ensure gala Bingo is offering its customers the most innovative and modern electronic products. As the largest bingo operator, Gala Bingo is also able to provide the leading jackpot prizes in the market place.
Gala Bingo has a database of customers totalling 7.8 million. The customer mix is 75% female and 25% male and the age profile of customers is getting younger, as the offer of new games, the investment into clubs makes it a modern day leisure pursuit. It is the most popular group leisure activity in the UK.
Gala Bingo is uniquely placed to offer our customers the opportunity to play bingo wherever and whenever they want – either in the clubs, online or through TV and respond to both external challenges and growing customer demand.
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Visit the Gala Bingo website
Coral
Coral is one of the leading betting and gaming brands in the UK, employing almost 11,000 people and operating nearly 1600 licensed betting offices throughout the UK, telephone and betting businesses based in Barking and Woking and two greyhounds staidia at Hove and Romford.
The Gambling Act 2005, which came into force on 1 September 2007, will be positive for Coral. Extended opening hours are now available in the winter months, and Coral is leading the way with a universal policy of 8.30am to 9.30pm opening in all betting shops daily. In addition, the division is now permitted to better meet customer demand for more varied and improved machines though our jackpot multi-line slots content.
Online betting and gaming has been a major growth area over the last few years and there are greater opportunities for Coral to grow, leveraging its High Street brand.
The Coral-Eclipse Stakes is the division’s flagship sponsorship and is a Group 1 contest for the best racehorses in Europe staged annually in July at Sandown Park.
Gala Coral E-Commerce
This division is responsible for the development, management and operation of all the E-Commerce activities of the Group. This includes the websites of the Group’s UK brands. Other services operated by the division include Gala TV. The division is also the online betting and gaming arm of the Gala Coral Group, offering a wide variety of products and betting opportunities both in the UK and internationally through the Group’s branded services, galabingo.com, Gala TV, galacasino.co.uk, coral.c.uk and eurobet.com
Galabingo.com has enjoyed great success in its first full year of operation, capitalising on its strong brand image and excellent platform to achieve market dominance with a 30% share of the UK market.
Gala TV was launched in October 2006, offering automated and live bingo on Sky Channel 841.
In July 2007, the online site and TV channel played host to the award wining “Kerchingo” promotion which involved over 20,000 customers and created the UK’s first bingo millionaire.
Galacasino.co.uk will look to leverage the retail casino membership further over the coming year. It runs the GBPT tour which has just recent crowned its first winner.
Recognising the great potential of the betting and gaming market in Italy, the division participated in the tender process for new betting licences issued y the Italian government, winning 403 licences and making the fifth-largest operator in Italy. The rollout of new licensed outlets is now underway and will be managed by the International division going forward.
The various sites offered by the division appeal to a broad customer base. Over the year the division welcomed over 574,000 unique players to its sites, who made over 123 million visits in total. The division continues to focus on innovation in product, promotional offerings and improving the customer experience.
www.galabingo.co.uk
www.galacasinos.co.uk
www.coral.co.uk
www.galatv.co.uk
www.gbpokertour.com
www.sportpress.com
International
The international division of Gala Coral was formally established on 1 October 2007. The aim of the International division is to develop an integrated multi-brand strategy. The first example of this is Italy with Eurobet retail and eurobet.it
Currently, only a very small percentage of the Group’s earnings come from non-UK territories. The long term strategy of the International division is to leverage the Group’s existing brand name and services across many territories, helping to create a truly internal business both on and offline.
Current markets – Italy
The Group won 403 betting licences in the open market tender in December 2006 under its Eurobet brand. These licenses are a mix of shop, corner and horserace licensees permitting the business to open a total of 350 outlets. These outlets are being rolled out across Italy via a franchise network. As of 14 November there were 178 and the remainder are expected to be open in the first half of 2008. The overall strategy for Italy is to gradually expand the events available for customers to bet (in agreement with the Italian government) and to strengthen the Eurobet brand both on and offline.
Current markets – China
The Group set up a joint venture to launch land-based bingo in China, with bingo being seen as the most appropriate point of entry for the Group into this hugely promising market. Whilst gaming is currently prohibited in China unless through one of the national lottery organisations. The Group is currently working with its joint venture partner to make bingo an approved lottery product and is central to defining the bingo model for the territory.
