EMPIRE Cinemas has announced that it will be closing multiple sites after falling into administration.
The cinema chain operates 14 locations across the UK and six are set to close with immediate effect.
The company employs over 437 staff across England and Scotland and the site closures have resulted in 150 job losses.
Empire Cinemas operates 12 of the 14 locations under the Empire brand and two Tivoli-branded cinemas in Bath and Cheltenham.
Seven of the 14 cinemas will remain open for the time being as the administrators seek a buyer.
Administrators from accounting firm BDO also confirmed that the closed cinema at Sutton Coldfield will not reopen.
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Here is a full list of the Empire cinemas that will be closing with immediate effect.
Which Empire cinemas are closing immediately?
- Bishop's Stortford
- Catterick Garrison
- Sunderland
- Swindon (Greenbridge)
- Walthamstow
- Wigan
Which Empire sites will remain open for the time being?
- Birmingham
- Clydebank
- High Wycombe
- Ipswich
- Sutton
Tivoli brand
- Bath
- Cheltenham
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What do I do if I have a gift card or guest pass?
Gift cards, ticket e-codes, gues passes and readmission tickets will continue to be valid at the sites that are still trading.
Advance ticket purchases at sites that have closed will be automatically refunded.
It is never really a good idea to buy gift cards as presents, because, in situations like this, you could find it hard to get your money back.
When a firm collapses and administrators are brought in, they view customers with gift cards as creditors.
There is no automatic right to a refund, so you could end up losing out.
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."
What does going into administration mean?
When a company enters administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator – who has to be a licensed insolvency practitioner.
Their goal is to leverage the company's assets and business to repay creditors.
Once the administrator has taken over, a moratorium is placed around the company and stops all legal actions.
After the administrator takes over, there isn't much that can be done to reverse the process.
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Odeon announced in May that it would be shutting down five of its locations.
And in June Cineworld gave a major update on its business as it looked to apply for administration.
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