Rank Group, the leading European gaming business whose principal activities involve running land based bingo clubs, casinos, and online gaming sites have parted with their head of its Mecca division.
Since April 2006, Simon Wykes had been managing director of Mecca. Rather than serving out a handover period it is believed that Mr Wykes, 39, left as soon as he was told of the decision. It is believed Mr. Wykes leaves with a payoff equivalent to a year’s salary.
The move comes as the Rank Group looks at strengthening itself, and in an attempt to re-energise the company and bring in fresh talent, it has recently sought key personal from outside the gaming sector in order to help the group move forward into a highly profitable company once again.
However despite his forced departure, Ian Burke, Rank chief executive paid tribute to Mr Wykes who helped stabilised Mecca Bingo after the smoking ban, government scrapping of lucrative gaming machines, and tough ‘double taxation’ that has long been applied to bingo halls, something that has been fought hard against by all bingo operators.
Mr. Burke acknowledged that Mecca Bingo were in a new phase in their strategy, as it looked to move beyond stabilisation to rebuilding Mecca Bingo’s profits.
For now, Ian Burk will assume direct operational control of Mecca until a successor is found.
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