Our environment

Customer insights

Our purpose is in part driven by meeting the changing needs and expectations of our customers. Through customer insights we can understand how and what we need to do to deliver exciting and entertaining experiences.

Mecca venues:

• Bingo has relevance and appeal to approximately 30%of the population but needs to evolve to meet their changing needs
• Overall, the bingo market is consolidating, and some cash stressed competitors have closed venues
• There is a desire for new experiences that are engaging, safe and value for money
• There is a need for more accessible, modern and lively bingo venues complemented with an enjoyable food and beverage offer
• Average Mecca customer age is 46 years; however, the most loyal and frequent customers are females over 55 years old
• Male to female split for Mecca customers is 1:3

Grosvenor venues:

• Only 4% of the UK population visit casinos at least once a year, though an additional 12% would consider visiting a casino if the offer was different to what they perceive a casino to be
• There is a desire for fun, enjoyable, friendly and welcoming experiences in a safe and secure environment
• There is a need for more modern and innovative experiences without losing the thrill and excitement of playing in a casino
• Average Grosvenor customer age is 39 years; however, the customers that visit the most and have higher levels of spend are over 56 years old
• Male to female split for Grosvenor’s customers is 4:1

Digital bingo:

• 2% of the UK population play online bingo each month, the growth opportunity that exists within this segment remains significant
• Overall, the online bingo market had been in decline; however, COVID-19 has driven growth up 11%
• There is a desire for the experience to be fun, engaging and to provide value for money with strong affordability tools
• The experience needs to be seamless across platforms to drive ease of use and the product offering has to have price offerings to appeal to all budgets
• The development of player needs is driving a demand for greater interactivity/experiential engagement into the home and has seen the recent development of significant numbers of new game formats
• The average online bingo player age is 38 years

Digital casino:

• 5% of the UK population play online casino each month, we currently have a 4% market share, with opportunities for growth specifically around slots and poker
• Overall, the online casino market growth had been slowing, however, COVID-19 has driven growth up 22%
• There is a desire for fun, enjoyable, easily accessible experiences that are safe and secure
• The range of product, the accessibility and speed of applications are key to the user and customer experience
• The development of customer needs is driving a demand for greater portfolio of live gaming away from the now traditional gaming into game show formats and new concepts that are live streamed to devices either from a studio or from physical venues. Alongside this the development of new game mechanics/variants is driving player value growth
• The average online casino player age is 34 years

What this means for Rank

Rank is focused on the continuous development of new games and formats to further excite and entertain its customers. Refer to pages 22 to 25 of our 2021 annual report for further details of how we are evolving our venues proposition and building digital capability and scale.

Omni-channel

• With its 134 venues, Rank is uniquely placed to provide an omni-channel experience for both bingo and casino customers.
• Omni-channel customers tend to have higher level of engagement and loyalty than single channel customers.
• With only 5% of our UK venues customers playing with us both in venue and online there is significant opportunity for the Group to grow its omni-channel customer base.

Geographies

Great Britain

Rank operates venues under its Mecca and Grosvenor Casinos brands across Great Britain. The venues bingo and casino markets are well established and are highly regulated. Unlike Mecca, there are a limited number of casino licences in Great Britain which are allocated to certain permitted areas.

• Casino - 78 licences 
• Bingo - 72 licences

Rank operates its UK customer-facing digital business through Alderney and UK online gaming licences.

Spain

Rank operates venues under its Enracha brand across Spain. Like Great Britain, the Spanish venues market is a regulated and mature market. Rank’s Yo and Enracha digital brands are operated through Spanish online gaming licences.

India

Rank operates through a joint venture, Passion Gaming, online rummy in India.

What this means for Rank

Our bingo and casino venues in England, Scotland and Wales accounted for more than 74% of Group revenue pre COVID-19. In addition, the majority of Rank’s digital customers are based in Britain.

Pre pandemic, our core market has provided a relatively stable environment for gaming and betting by comparison with many other jurisdictions around the world.