National cinema chain Empire Cinemas has tumbled into administration, forcing the closure of a number of sites.
Empire Cinemas, which has 14 theatres with 129 screens across the UK, has closed its sites in Sunderland, Bishop’s Stortford, Catterick Garrison, Swindon, Walthamstow and Wigan with immediate effect, following the appointment of joint administrators, Tony Nygate, John Strowger and Danny Dartnaill at BDO LLP.
The rest of the company’s portfolio – at Ipswich, Sutton, Birmingham, Clydebank, High Wycombe, as well as two Tivoli sites in Bath and Cheltenham, will continue to trade while the joint administrators hunt for a buyer for the business.
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The company has 437 employees across the UK but it is not yet known how many have been affected by the closures. Empire Cinemas chief executive Justin Robbins issued a note to customers on websites for the theatres which have ceased trading, highlighting how the pandemic has heavily impacted the business.
The statement says: “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 and 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.
“Refunds for tickets bought online and those purchased at the Box Office using a debit/credit/gift card will be refunded automatically. We are extremely grateful for your support over the years.”
Tony Nygate, BDO business restructuring partner, said: “The well-publicised challenges for the leisure sector from the impact of COVID-19, rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis have significantly affected the Companies’ business. The remaining open sites are continuing to trade while we explore the sale of as much of the business as possible.”
