The bingo balls have rolled for the final time on Fishergate.
Mecca Bingo has confirmed today (Tuesday) that its York venue has closed for good.
It follows the news yesterday that the building and site has been bought by a consortium comprising North Star and Grantside, two York developers.
Operations director at Mecca Bingo, John Dyson, said: “On behalf of everyone at Mecca Bingo in York, we are very sad to confirm that we will not be reopening our club in May and will be closing permanently.
“Mecca York has been a part of the local community for 18 years and we want to say a huge thank you to every single one of our incredible customers for their loyalty and support – we will miss you very much.
“Mecca plays a very special part in the community and has done for 60 years, bringing people together in our clubs and online. We wish all of our colleagues and customers well for the future.”
Clifton still reopening
Grantside’s chief executive officer Steve Davis said that the new owners “are currently reviewing all our options for the future of it and how it can add to York’s landscape”.
The Grantside-North Star partnership has already bought the Clifford Street building which is home to both Kuda and York Dungeon, and has signalled its intention to “regenerate the city’s night-time economy as we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Rank Group, which owns Mecca Bingo, posted a six-month loss in December, after the pandemic hit trade.
“There is no doubt that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been far beyond anything we or any other leisure operator could have imagined or planned for,” said Rank boss John O’Reilly.
Clifton Bingo in York is planning to reopen in May, in accordance with the roadmap out of lockdown.