It has stood proudly on Marine Parade in Margate for over 25 years, and has welcomed a huge number of bingo players through its doors since it opened, however, the clock is now ticking as the Beacon Bingo Club in Margate is about to close next month.
It came as a huge shock for both staff and players of that bingo club when bosses announced its closure, but due to what the parent company of Beacon Bingo, Praesepe, call significant trading losses for a number of years, they have decided to give up any hope of reviving its fortunes and will be slowly winding down the club in the next few weeks.
There had been rumours that it was the termination of the lease on the building by its landlord that forced the hand of Praesepe to close the venue, however, those rumours were put to rest when the chief operating officer stated it was purely down to the venue running at a loss for the last few years as to why the decision was made to close it down.
Both staff and players have launched a petition in the hope that the venue can be saved, however, the only hope it would appear will be for another company to buy the bingo club, which based on it losing money looks an unlikely scenario.
Around 25 people are employed at the bingo club and whilst some of them will face redundancy, Praesepe are hoping that some of them could be relocated to their other bingo clubs if at all possible.
It does appear that the two amusement centres Praesepe own which are located next door to the bingo club will not be closing, which does offer some hope for job relocations in Margate for the affected employees.
