Gala Coral Group

The Gala Coral Group is a renowned UK business primarily promoting themselves within the high-volume, low-stakes sector in gambling and betting both in land based venues and online.

The history of this company starts as far back as 1929. Joe Coral operated a bookmaking business at greyhound courses until 1960 when legalisation changed and off course betting shops were allowed.

Joe Coral opened his first off course betting shop in 1961 which started the Coral Group

Many changes were made within the Coral group right up to October 2005 when The Gala acquired Coral and became the Gala Coral Group. But it was the merger in the same year with Coral Eurobet that gave them the advantage of being one of the leaders in the betting/gambling field.

Their progress did not end here, as in January 2006, a chain of Country Bingo Clubs in Scotland was added and in February 2006 they acquired the Leo Casino in Liverpool.

Gala Coral now have their eye on not only expanding their operations internationally, but also increasing their internet presence as well.

The shareholder group that control Gala Coral Group Ltd is led by Apollo, Cerberus, Park Square and York Capital Management.

The Gala Coral Group employ over 16 000 people across all their sectors. Neil Goulden is the Chief Executive,
John Kelly the Chairman,
Matthew Roberts the Chief Financial officer,
Dominic Harrison the Chief Operating Officer,
Julian Cronk Group Company Secretary
and Martin Clarke, Charles Sherwood, Peter Catterall, Guy Davidson, Marek Gunienny, Alexis Dormandy are all the Non-executive directors.

Presently Gala Coral have 162 Clubs, 29 Casinos and nearly 1 600 licensed betting offices. Internationally they have one casino in Gibraltar and are presently opening 360 outlets in Italy , of which approximately 80% are already running.

There are three divisions in Gala Coral. The first, Gala Gaming, is responsible for all land based Bingo Halls and Casinos. The second, Retail Betting, controls the UK betting shops and the Eurobet Shops in Italy, and the third, Remote Gambling, manages all the E-Commerce gaming sites on the internet which include Gala Casino, Gala Bingo, Coral and Eurobet.

At present Gala Coral Group Ltd is registered in England under company number 4639005 as a private company, but have reported that they intend to list on a stock exchange within the next three years.

The registered office address is Glebe House, Vicarage Drive, Barking, Essex, IG11 7NS with contact details as following:

Group / Bingo / Casino Press Office

Group Communications Manager Sarah Mercer
E-mail: sarah.mercer@galacoral.com
Phone: 0115 948 5161
Mobile: 07803 956593

Coral Press Office Direct press line:  0208 594 3635

Director of Communications Simon Clare
E-mail: simon.clare@coral.co.uk
Mobile: 07860 465139

PR Manager David Stevens
E-mail: david.stevens@coral.co.uk
Mobile: 07720 400438 

For all land based betting shops and casinos operating in the United Kingdom, Gala Coral are licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission (licence n.001-002365-R-102407-001). The appropriate authorities in Italy have granted a license for all Italian operations and all online sites are licensed and regulated by Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

Gala Coral is the very first gaming company to receive full accreditation by GamCare across all of its divisons.

2010 - Bronze Certificate in "Business in the Community's 8th Corporate Responsibility Index"
2006 - Bookmaker of the Year, GamCare Certificate of Recognition for work with Social Responsiblity, 17th Best company to work in the UK
2005 - "Corporate Citizenship Award" at the 2005 Springboard UK Awards, "Gold Award" from The Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), "Trainer of the Year Award" awarded by the Institute of IT Training, "Cares Team Leader" of the Year Award given by Business in the Community East Midlands, "Gold Accreditation" by the Institute of IT Training, "HRH Ambassador for the East Midlands Award" given by  Business in the Community. "Gold Award" for Heath and Safety - RoSPA (Spring 2005)
2004 - "Back Office Support Team of the Year" by the National Customer Service Awards "The Lifetime Achievement Award" - National Customer Service Awards "Best Graduate Placement Provider - Large Organisation Award" - Springboard UK "Euro Direct Database Marketing Award - Direct Mail" - Marketing Direct Intelligence Awards "Market Research Award - Entertainment & Media" - Marketing Direct Intelligence Awards "GamCare Certificate" of Recognition for work with social responsibility in the gambling industry

Gala Coral is involved in a range of community based and national based charities.
Employer-supported volunteering with Business in the Community 'Cares' partnerships.
Participation in the 'Right to Read' scheme
Over 1,850 hours of volunteering time contributed by  staff
Staff contributed over 3,000 hours to Nottinghamshire Cares, Bristol Cares and Leeds Cares.

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