EMPIRE Cinemas in Rubery will remain open despite the company announcing widespread closures of its sites.
The cinema company has announced the closure of six sites, with a further eight, including Rubery still under threat after the company collapsed into administration.
Sites in Clydebank, High Wycombe, Ipswich, Sutton, Bath and Cheltenham will remain open as administrators, BDO, seek a buyer for the company.
Sites in Bishop’s Stortford, Catterick Grrison, Sunderland, Swindon, Walthamstow and Wigan will however close, leading to the loss of 150 jobs.
BDO have blamed the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and the rise in popularity of online streaming sites for the closures.
Empire cinemas confirmed any advance tickets bought for the closed cinemas will be refunded.
Gift cards and guest passes will continue to be accepted at open Empire cinemas.
A total of 437 staff are employed by the Empire Cinema Group in England and Scotland. The 150 staff to lose their job will be made redundant.
A statement from a spokesperson of the company said: “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.”
