The team leader in the food department at Mecca Bingo, Keri Prowse, was the first one to come up with the idea. She, along with Davina Warden and Kim Pannel, began a sponsored diet at the end of May where, each week, they all step on the scales at the bingo club in front of staff and customers to be weighed.
There’s hardly a better motivation to loose weight than to stand on a scale in front of a group of strangers who anxiously wait for your weekly weight. Before starting the sponsored diet, Keri used to be a size 18 and she is now already down to a size 14.
It was revealed this week that a court decision could mean that the British Revenue and Customs authorities would have to pay a big sum to bingo operators, such as the Rank Group. Apparently, the tribunal considers that Value Added Tax on the bingo activity contravenes European Union regulations.
The Rank Group, owner of Mecca Bingo clubs, filed the case a few months ago claiming that VAT is applied to some bingo machines in the UK but not to all of them, creating a contradiction. According to Rank’s attorneys, the Group paid £36 million more VAT than it should have paid.