Please gamble responsibly.
by Penny Walker
Amidst the financial crisis, we all thought that online bingo networks or operators are doing well. Perhaps the leaders in the online bingo industry are surviving, what with the thousands of players playing online bingo each day. Nevertheless, that doesn�t mean that online bingo is invincible. It doesn�t mean that the recession can�t touch them. There are already a number of big online bingo networks that got affected by these tough economic times including Gala Bingo.
Gala Coral is the parent company of Gala Bingo. We never thought that such a huge bingo operator will experience such a tough burden. Recently, insurance was removed from Gala Coral by its insurance provider. It was Euler Hermes, the credit insurer who revoked the group their insurance. But the big question is why? Let�s take a look at the details further below.
First, let�s talk about the repercussions of losing insurance coverage. For one, all the suppliers to the said online bingo network, Gala Bingo, are no longer insured. So if Gala Bingo goes bust or will be liquidated, then these suppliers will have no insurance to cover their losses. Which suppliers are we talking about? We are talking about all the companies that supply to Gala Bingo which includes all the bingo ticket printers, the software bingo providers, manufacturers of slot machines, and the companies that supply food and drinks to their offline Gala Bingo halls. So this is bad news to the company�s suppliers and to Gala Bingo and other businesses that the Gala Coral Group has. Without them being insured, suppliers won�t feel comfortable or secured doing business with the company.
It was an abrupt decision by Euler Hermes and was deemed as an appalling behavior according to the Gala Coral group. However, sources close to the insurance company said that the reason why Euler Hermes suddenly withdrew their insurance coverage was because Gala Coral was struggling to meet their debts. A reported four billion and three million pounds was Gala Coral�s debt. At the same time, the company reported a pre-tax loss of three hundred ninety seven million pounds in 2008.