Crispin Lilly, chief executive of Everyman Media, has more than film on his mind: he is focusing on making the group’s upmarket cinema chain a local high street hub. “Someone needs to place make,” he said pointing out that after watching a film, people tend to drift to bars and restaurants nearby, making cinema the heart of a wider ecosystem of businesses. “Regeneration and repositioning need to happen on our high streets. A lot of our streets are never going to be retail destinations again,” he added while sat at the back of the smallest screen at the Aim-listed chain’s new City of London site.
Rising costs and the encroachment of online retail and food delivery have hit many chains. High-profile groups that have been forced into administration or to restructure include Jamie’s Italian in casual dining and Debenhams and House of Fraser in retail, leading to more empty premises on already struggling high streets. Footfall on Britain’s high streets was down 2.1 per cent year-on-year in the three months to October, according to research firm Springboard. But Mr Lilly, who thanks to various mergers across the leisure sector has worked at Cineworld, UGC and Virgin Cinemas and joined the group in 2014, says Everyman can help turn the tide.
Source: Everyman looks to high street role for cinema success | Financial Times