Huge cinema chain with 100 branches gives major update on future with sites ‘at risk of closure’
A HUGE cinema chain has given a major update on its future - and a number of branches could be at risk of closure.
Cineworld has said it is looking at various options after reports it is considering a major restructuring, which could include closures.
On Saturday, Sky News reported that Cineworld is working with restructuring adviser AlixPartners on a plan that could lead to a sale or restructuring.
This could include exploring the option of a CVA (company voluntary arrangement).
The firm operates 100 cinemas under the Cineworld brand across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
It also runs a further 28 cinemas under the Picturehouse brand.
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Such a move could "put an unspecified number of its UK cinemas at risk of closure", according to the broadcaster.
All of Cineworld's cinemas are currently open and operating as normal.
A restructuring plan enables a company to restructure its balance sheet and, hence, release working capital into the business.
It falls short of the company calling a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) which is a form of insolvency and have been more commonly implemented as an alternative.
A CVA is a way for a business to restructure but continue to trade.
Like a restructuring plan a CVA can give a company some breathing space or allow it to reorganise or restructure its funding and/or its operations with as little disruption as possible.
However, unlike a CVA, restructuring plans, once approved, are legally binding on both secured and unsecured creditors, including landlords.
When businesses struggle financially but still want to carry on with business operations and believe they may be salvaged, they could adopt a restructuring plan.
A spokesperson for Cineworld said: "Like many businesses, we are continually reviewing our UK operations."
The Sun has also contacted AlixPartners for comment.
Full list of Cineworld cinemas
CINEWORLD operates 100 cinemas across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. They are as follows:
- Aberdeen - Queens Links
- Aberdeen - Union Square
- Aldershot
- Ashford
- Ashton-under-Lyne
- Barnsley
- Basildon
- Bedford
- Belfast
- Birmingham - Broad Street
- Birmingham - NEC
- Boldon Tyne and Wear
- Bolton
- Bracknell
- Bradford
- Braintree
- Brighton
- Broughton
- Burton upon Trent
- Bury St Edmunds
- Cardiff
- Castleford
- Cheltenham
- Chesterfield
- Chichester
- Crawley
- Dalton Park
- Didcot
- Didsbury
- Dover
- Dundee
- Eastbourne at The Beacon
- Edinburgh
- Ely
- Falkirk
- Glasgow - Parkhead
- Glasgow - Renfrew Street
- Glasgow - Silverburn
- Gloucester Quays
- Harlow - Harvey Centre
- Harlow - Queensgate
- Haverhill
- Hemel Hempstead
- High Wycombe
- Hinckley
- Hull
- Huntingdon
- Ipswich
- Isle of Wight
- Jersey
- Leeds - White Rose
- Leigh
- Llandudno
- London - Bexleyheath
- London - Enfield
- London - Feltham
- London - Hounslow
- London - Ilford
- London - Leicester Square
- London - South Ruislip
- London - The O2 Greenwich
- London - Wandsworth
- London - Wembley
- London - West India Quay
- London - Wood Green
- Loughborough
- Luton
- Middlesbrough
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Newport Wales - Spytty Park
- Northampton
- Nottingham
- Plymouth
- Poole
- Rochester
- Rugby
- Rushden Lakes
- Sheffield
- Shrewsbury
- Solihull
- Speke
- Stevenage
- St Helens
- St Neots
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Swindon - Regent Circus
- Swindon - Shaw Ridge
- Telford
- Wakefield
- Warrington
- Watford
- Weston-super-Mare
- Weymouth
- Whiteley
- Witney
- Wolverhampton
- Yate
- Yeovil
- York
It also runs 28 cinemas under the Picturehouse brand:
- Bath - Little Theatre Cinema
- Brighton - Duke of York’s
- Brighton - Duke’s at Komedia
- Cambridge - Arts
- Chester - Chester Cinema
- Edinburgh - Cameo
- Epsom
- Exeter
- Henley-on-Thames - Regal
- Liverpool - Fact
- London - Bromley
- London - Clapham
- London - Crouch End
- London - Eailing
- London - East Dulwich
- London - Finsbury Park
- London - Fulham Road
- London - Greenwich
- London - Hackney
- London - Picturehouse Central
- London - Ritzy
- London - Stratford
- London - The Gate
- London - West Norwood
- Norwich - Cinema City
- Oxford - Phoenix
- Southampton - Harbour Lights
- York - City Screen
It comes after Cineworld emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US late last year.
Filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy means a company intends to reorganise its debts and assets while remaining in business.
At the time, the future of the chain's 129 UK and Irish cinemas looked to be at risk.
The company's shares plunged almost 99% in the five years to 2023, as it was hit particularly hard by the pandemic and the enforced closure of its cinema sites.
The business has posted significant losses since and has also come under pressure from platforms offering streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
In August 2023, the company employed 28,000 workers globally, with operations in 10 countries.
Cinema chain Odeon closed five of its branches in June last year.
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Empire cinema also closed multiple sites last year after falling into administration last month.
The company made its decision following "a thorough assessment of all available options".
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.