The Empire Cinema chain has collapsed into administration, with six sites set to be closed with immediate effect.
Around 150 jobs have been lost by the chain’s collapse, with staff and film fans reportedly turning up to cinemas on Friday to find notes on the window explaining the closures.
The cinema chain suffered during the pandemic and has seen dwindling numbers of cinema-goers.
Before the closures, Empire Cinemas ran 12 theatres under the Empire brand name and a further two under Tivoli.
UK-wide, it employed 437 staff – a number now drastically reduced.
The six cinemas that have closed with immediate effect are:
· Bishop’s Stortford
· Catterick Garrison
· Sunderland
· Swindon
· Walthamstow
· Wigan
The site in Sutton Coldfield, which remained closed after the pandemic, will not re-open, with the closures leaving Walthamstow, Sunderland and Wigan without a cinema.
However, the remaining seven sites will remain open whilst it seeks a buyer for the business, joint administrators at BDO confirmed.
These include:
· Birmingham
· Clydebank
· High Wycombe
· Ipswich
· Sutton
· Bath (Tivoli)
· Cheltenham (Tivoli)
Chief executive of Empire, Justin Ribbons, said in a note on the company’s website on Friday: "As a consequence of Covid-19, where we were mandated by government to close down our cinema chain in its entirety for protracted periods in 2020 and 2021, this left us with a high fixed cost base and no income.
"Cinema attendance levels have not yet returned to pre-Covid-19 levels and the operating environment remains extremely challenging.
"It has been a difficult economic environment for any business to manage through without long-term damage and having exhausted all other available options for the business, we firmly believe that this process can be a platform to restructure the business and preserve as many of our cinemas and the maximum number of jobs as possible."
Cinemagoers facing closures have no doubt faced disappointment, with Stella Creasy, Labour & Co-op MP for Walthamstow, tweeting: “This is our only cinema in Walthamstow so crucial to our local economy.”
Elsewhere, Waltham Forest Council stated that it did not receive “any advance notification” of the announcement, adding that it will now “examine options” for the site’s future to “benefit the Waltham Forest community.”
“We were shocked and surprised to be informed this morning that Empire Cinema Walthamstow on the High Street has closed with immediate effect as the Empire Cinemas group enters administration”, a statement from council leader Grace Williams read.
“We did not receive any advance notification of this announcement. My thoughts are of course with the staff who will be devastated to lose their jobs with short notice.
“I know that many residents, myself included, have fond memories of enjoying films at the cinema with friends, family and loved ones…it is a real shame for our young people, who will lose the chance to enjoy movies on the big screen locally this summer.”
Customers who purchased advance tickets for films at the impacted cinemas will be refunded, with gift cards, ticket e-codes, guest passes and readmission tickets remaining valid at the sites which are still open.
