Beare and Gosnell founded in 1884 Ye Mecca Limited.
Incorporation date: 13/12/1933
The Golden Nugget casino in the Trocadero building, Shaftesbury Avenue, originated in a joint venture initiated in 1965 between Mecca and the New Brighton Tower Company Ltd. The latter managed the casino until 1966, when Craywood took over the management. In 1968 Mecca acquired its partners’ interest.
In 1950 Mecca was still simmering at low gas. Money was raised by three methods :
*Bank Overdraft
*Debenture Issue
*Rights Issues
In 1968 Craywood changed its name to Mecca Sportsman Ltd.
In June 1970 Mecca acquired the remaining 49 per cent of Mecca Sportsman, and in August 1970 Grand Metropolitan acquired Mecca, the holding company of Mecca Sportsman. At that time Grand Metropolitan had a one-third share hi Palm Beach Club Ltd which owned a central London casino, the Palm Beach Club, located in a Grand Metropolitan hotel, the May Fair. Coral owned the remaining two-thirds share and operated and managed the casinos.
Mecca Sportsman is responsible for the gaming activities of the Grand Metropolitan group. There are six members of the Mecca Sportsman board, all executive directors. Messrs P L Isaacs and M M Kingsley are joint managing directors, and the remaining members are Messrs D W Gray, P McNally, S R Freed and G J R Pannett. The joint managing directors report directly to Mr Grinstead. Grand Metropolitan told us that each of the six directors has over 15 years’ experience in the gaming industry and maintains close daily contact with the six casinos operated in London. Besides these Mecca Sportsman operates casinos on three Cunard liners.
Mecca Leisure Plc company’s description in 1989 is
46% entertainment of 1989 revenues,
28% holidays,
22% themed catering,
4% other.
In 1989, Mecca Leisure USA, a relative newcomer to central Florida with up to a 1,000 employees owned Hard Rock Café Intl and were building on of the most famous rock n’ roll-themed restaurants at the Universal Studios Florida. Mecca Leisure owns dinner shows, including King’s Henry’s feast, Mardi Gras in Orlando and Fort Liberty in Kissimmee; Fun ‘N Wheels a go-kart attraction; Florida restaurants of Orlando, such as Park Plaza Gardens, Mecca USA is the subsidiary of London-based Mecca Leisure Plc.
In 1990, Mecca Leisure Group was acquired by Rank Group Plc for £ 512,000.