A SUNDERLAND printing firm which pioneered newspaper bingo has been forced to axe 53 staff and close its plant.

Edward Thompson - which has been printing for more than 155 years - has been hit hard by the crash in bingo hall use as Covid ripped through the leisure sector. CEO Paddy Cronin said he was 'gutted' but the business had finally had to face the inevitable as the cashflow dried up.

"We were built on a bet but our luck has now run out," he told The Northern Echo.

"Covid completely changed the market and as the halls went into decline it just became untenable so I had to break the news to the workers.

Read more: How £20m will transform old works in Sunderland

"They are family - the best of the best - and there is not a single one I wouldn't vouch for. I will do anything I can to help them find something new.

"Some of them have been with me for a long time - only the other week I gave out long service awards for ten of them."

From its base on Richmond Street, Sunderland, the company has been one of the largest suppliers to the bingo and leisure markets in the UK, including printed bingo tickets and flyers, electronic hand held bingo terminals, dabbers and pens, commercial print, promotional print and promotional gifts.

It was also a specialist printer of promotional game cards in Europe with ranges including scratch cards, scratch and sniff and parking tickets.

Mr Cronin said the firm was the pioneer of newspaper bingo, printing the first cards in 1975 and going on to work in places like Bolivia and Belgium and even printing the ballot papers for Nelson Mandela's 1994 election in South Africa.

But the changes in gaming technology was always going to be a challenge and then Covid finally killed off any hopes of a resurgence for the sector.

It is understood the site will be developed by the council, and a large amount of equipment will be taken on by another firm, who will be taught how to use it by Edward Thompson staff.

 

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