Mecca Bingo is looking for a new managing director, parent company the Rank Group confirmed today.

Rank chief executive Ian Burke has assumed direct operational management of the business until a replacement for Simon Wykes is found.

Burke said: "Simon has worked hard to stabilise Mecca Bingo during a period in which the industry has had to adapt to the effects of the smoking ban, the loss of Section 21 gaming machines and rising taxation. We have entered a new phase in our strategy, as we look to move beyond stabilisation to rebuilding Mecca Bingo's profits. On behalf of the board I would like to thank Simon for his hard work."

Current managing director Simon Wykes has decided to leave with immediate effect.

Investor relations director Dan Waugh added: “We are looking for someone to broaden the appeal of our products and who can help us to deliver the best services in the industry.”

At the time of the publication of its interim management statement on 22 April 2009, Rank reported 1% revenue growth at Mecca Bingo for the first 16 weeks of the financial year.

Waugh said Rank “was not making public profit targets” for Mecca’s new managing director.

Wykes departure is the fourth management change at Rank in recent months. In October lastminute.com managing director Mark Jones replaced Martin Belsham as head of Rank’s online division, Blue Square, which Belsham sold to Rank in 2003 for £65m. In June, Phil Urban replaced Peter McCann as head of casinos, and Paddy Gallagher replaced Peter Gill as finance director.

Source: egaming review

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