Yahoo Movies Vue has "no intentions" of closing any of its UK cinemas
Vue has confirmed it has "no intentions" of closing any of its UK cinemas.
Unlike Cineworld, which is reportedly planning to close around 25 of its venues, Vue will not be following suit.
"We have no intention of closing any of our cinemas," said Vue CEO Tim Richards. "We have not closed any of our cinemas since the pandemic. In fact, the opposite is true."
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According to Screen Daily, Vue currently has 224 sites and 1962 screens in eight countries, and Richards has revealed they're set to expand.
"We've picked up a few new cinemas and we are building a couple of additional cinemas," he said.
One of those new cinemas will open this summer in Basildon in Essex. The 10-screen venue will be built on the site that Vue took over from Empire Cinema, when the latter went into administration.
"The narrative [around expansion] is still negative because of one or two larger operators having difficulties but I see a lot of operators out there right now like ourselves who believe in the future and are investing, getting ready for that future," said the Vue boss.
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"Cineworld have already gone through their pain and they have done a good job restructuring," he added.
As well as planning to close a quarter of Cineworld venues, the brand's parent company recently confirmed three Picturehouse sites would also be closing in London. When asked if Vue would be interested in taking over more sites from its rivals if they become available, Richards replied confidently.
"Absolutely. They would need to be qualitatively complimentary with our circuit but we've already demonstrated over the last 20 years that M&A and purchasing cinemas is part of our DNA."
Richards also pointed out the unwavering demand for cinemas, which has been reflected in sales figures. "There is a long list of films of all different genres that have broken records. It confirms again we do not have a demand problem. Our customers desperately want to come out to watch a great movie of any kind."
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