Multiplex owner snaps up Duke of York's in Brighton

8:30am Thursday 6th December 2012 in News

Cineworld has bought rival cinema chain Picturehouse for £47.3 million.

Picturehouse is the UK’s leading independent cinema operator with 21 sites (60 screens), including the Duke of York's in Preston Circus, Brighton and The Duke’s at Komedia in Gardner Street, which opens today.

The all-cash deal sees Cineworld add Picturehouse's 21 cinemas to its current 80 sites across the UK.

Stephen Wiener, chief executive of Cineworld said: "This acquisition gives us an opportunity to accelerate our growth by reaching new audiences in a high value and growing part of the market."

To help fund the deal, Cineworld is to raise £16m through a share flotation.

Picturehouse focuses on showing independent and foreign movies.

Its managing director Lyn Goleby said: "The unique character of Picturehouse cinemas will remain, and our team will continue to bring the widest range of film to customers."

Comments(28)

raymondo999 says...
9:11am Thu 6 Dec 12

Sad day as another independent swallowed up by the popcorn and mush corporation. But not so sad as picture house has already mostly sold out, showing same mainstream films as the corporates.

Report this post »

Algeria Touchshriek says...
9:12am Thu 6 Dec 12

I bet you all 50p Duke of Yorks will lose its charm and quirkiness within a few years.

Gone will be the nice glass of wine you enjoy whilst watching a movie.

Gone will be the film fests they enjoy like Lord of The Rings Specials and Halloween Monster shows.

Gone will be the lovely cake they sell.

BUt hey ho, I am sure the next god-awful Jason Statham shoot out will be brilliant !

Report this post »

Orhanveli says...
9:46am Thu 6 Dec 12

To the moaners above... better that than it disappears altogether, to be turned into the next block of flats or a Tesco Metro.

Report this post »

Atticus says...
10:37am Thu 6 Dec 12

I'll take your bet Algeria Touchshriek.

They don't need another screen to show the latest Statham movie and that's not what they're buying.

They're simply looking to reach a new audience who won't currently visit their multiplexes and who enjoy a bit of variety.

You'll still get your cake, and if you don't you can have my 50p.

Report this post »

FC says...
10:43am Thu 6 Dec 12

OH NOES. WHERE WILL ALL THE HIPSTERS SIT IN THEIR TWEED JACKETS WATCHING THEIR INDEPENDENT FILMS ABOUT THE PROPAGANDA OF WAR WHILST CLEANING THEIR THICK-RIMMED GLASSES THEY FOUND IN A VINTAGE STORE FOR £160?

Report this post »

Lady Smith says...
11:54am Thu 6 Dec 12

Algeria Touchshriek wrote:
I bet you all 50p Duke of Yorks will lose its charm and quirkiness within a few years.

Gone will be the nice glass of wine you enjoy whilst watching a movie.

Gone will be the film fests they enjoy like Lord of The Rings Specials and Halloween Monster shows.

Gone will be the lovely cake they sell.

BUt hey ho, I am sure the next god-awful Jason Statham shoot out will be brilliant !
I fear you will be proved right...:-(

Report this post »

TokyoPete says...
11:56am Thu 6 Dec 12

FC wrote:
OH NOES. WHERE WILL ALL THE HIPSTERS SIT IN THEIR TWEED JACKETS WATCHING THEIR INDEPENDENT FILMS ABOUT THE PROPAGANDA OF WAR WHILST CLEANING THEIR THICK-RIMMED GLASSES THEY FOUND IN A VINTAGE STORE FOR £160?
Er, yeah, right. FC. I can understand the stereotype tweed jackets and thick-rimmed glasses, but pray tell what exactly is a film ABOUT THE propaganda of war? Any examples?

Report this post »

Algeria Touchshriek says...
12:14pm Thu 6 Dec 12

FC wrote:
OH NOES. WHERE WILL ALL THE HIPSTERS SIT IN THEIR TWEED JACKETS WATCHING THEIR INDEPENDENT FILMS ABOUT THE PROPAGANDA OF WAR WHILST CLEANING THEIR THICK-RIMMED GLASSES THEY FOUND IN A VINTAGE STORE FOR £160?
How odd.

me and the wife were there on Sunday watching "Sightseers" about a geeky caravan club member who turns in to a serial killer.

I was wearing jeans and a lumberjack shirt the missus was in.................i forget but it wasn't tweed!

Report this post »

banargustrolls says...
12:36pm Thu 6 Dec 12

This is terrible news.. they will totally ruin it..

Report this post »

Wiggsy says...
1:11pm Thu 6 Dec 12

One hopes Cineworld stand by this:

“The Picturehouse cinemas, and all that we stand for, will remain as before and will operate as a standalone division of Cineworld. Everyone recognises that the success of this change depends on the unique nature of the Picturehouse Cinemas being protected; the programming policy will not change, the membership schemes will remain in place and the independent identity of the cinemas will be protected.”

Report this post »

tomnixon says...
1:20pm Thu 6 Dec 12

The key PR message around this buy-out is 'you won't see any changes' but that's not for Picturehouse to say. As with all corporate buy-outs, the new owners have all of the rights to make whatever changes they like, including removing the management team, selling it on to anyone of their choosing, or wringing it out for short-term profit at the expense of long-term value for customers. They will remain autonomous while the going's good, but Cineworld will be watching their numbers like hawks. Who knows what might happen at a time when the numbers aren't going in the right direction and there's pressure from the stock market to generate short-term returns. We have no idea if/when this might happen - we hope it never will - but by selling out they have given up control of their own destiny and that's a real loss for Brighton.

Report this post »

Orhanveli says...
1:22pm Thu 6 Dec 12

banargustrolls wrote:
This is terrible news.. they will totally ruin it..
Yes Banargustrolls, isn't it terrible news that a local cinema that we all know and love is going to be able to remain open?

I for one would be so much happier if they were financially forced to close down and the beautiful building be turned into a nice block of flats, a Tesco Metro, or better still, pulled down completely, never to be remembered.

Get a grip people. These are hard time.

Report this post »

banargustrolls says...
1:36pm Thu 6 Dec 12

"These are hard time"?
I'd rather it closed than turn into a Cineworld-mall-like-
popcorn-churning blockbuster-£5 for a coke stupid building.
The Dukes will lose all its charm as it's taken over by the number-crunching corporates, so nothing of its old-self will be left to enjoy.

Report this post »

Orhanveli says...
1:51pm Thu 6 Dec 12

banargustrolls wrote:
"These are hard time"?
I'd rather it closed than turn into a Cineworld-mall-like-

popcorn-churning blockbuster-£5 for a coke stupid building.
The Dukes will lose all its charm as it's taken over by the number-crunching corporates, so nothing of its old-self will be left to enjoy.
You'd rather it close and see all it's staff out of work would you? You'd also rather it close than at least give Cineworld a chance to keep it open and at least try to keep hold of it's independent nature?

And why the ""? to my 'These are hard times' comment? Do you not agree? Do you have any idea how many businesses are failing at the moment?

Report this post »

banargustrolls says...
1:54pm Thu 6 Dec 12

You put hard 'time'.
I'd rather it stayed completely out of the way of Cineworld that's what I'd rather. They sold to the highest bidder - not all were corporate munching nightmares like them..

Report this post »

leahlou says...
1:56pm Thu 6 Dec 12

i do reckon they will stick to their word and keep showing independent films otherwise everyone will pop down to the odeon or the marina. no advantage to going to london road for cinema otherwise

Report this post »

banargustrolls says...
2:07pm Thu 6 Dec 12

Cineworld have absolutely no interest in keeping it independent, they could not be further from being independent. They see it as just another cinema and will go about their business as usual. That's business.

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
6:50pm Thu 6 Dec 12

I used to enjoy the DoY for its 'world cinema' films which were really just posh people's **** and violence.
But in the last year the cinema has focused more on mainstream films so I haven't been as often.
I also bet the cake will disappear to be replaced by a stand of Red Bull.

Report this post »

raymondo999 says...
9:18pm Thu 6 Dec 12

Having read all these comments, it's probably no bad thing that picture house has sold out. There is no demand for thoughtful, intelligent films these days. No critical audience. Picture house realised this about 10 years ago and went mainstream. Cine world will realise this too and probably close the place in a few years. Will have to keep going to France and Germany where genuine independent cinema still thrives. Why so many insults about tweed wearing audiences, address the content of arguments rather than. Ad hominem remarks. Look it up in the dictionary.

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
7:04am Fri 7 Dec 12

From Posh **** to pop corn.
The march of the capitalist moves on. What next? The Pavilion to become a bowling alley.

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
7:12am Fri 7 Dec 12

I have to tell you raymondo999 that I've been posting on here for months about the devastating effect the new parking charges seemed to be having on the DoY and other traders near the picture house. There was a visible drop in trade. The traders further along the London Road have just been given a parking reprieve.
I usually cycle or walk, but I have a disabled friend who I would drive there on a Monday night and I would park in a bay which was free after 6pm. The last time we went it was £3.50 an hour after 6pm in tge bay so our night out cost £7 in parking alone.
He doesn't have a blue badge as he has no car and tried to use public transport.
The last time I visited the DoY in the week it was half empty.
If you use the bus you have to go into town and then get another bus out as buses in town dont run east to west or walk and after work people don't get time.
Cineworld will face the same challenges and if they show mainstream films you may as well drive to the Marina on a wet Monday night with free parking.

Report this post »

raymondo999 says...
9:38am Fri 7 Dec 12

Yes parking policy in brighton is a disaster, but I don't think it's the main reason for the decline at the dukes. I've been going there for 30 years and long ago it was a genuine art house cinema. Scruffy but films you couldn't see elsewhere. About 10 years ago a new company took over and started to emphasise commercial films that you can see at the corporates. Now they show a few films around the edge, but everything else is available elsewhere. So I think the battle has been lost already.

Report this post »

raymondo999 says...
9:38am Fri 7 Dec 12

Yes parking policy in brighton is a disaster, but I don't think it's the main reason for the decline at the dukes. I've been going there for 30 years and long ago it was a genuine art house cinema. Scruffy but films you couldn't see elsewhere. About 10 years ago a new company took over and started to emphasise commercial films that you can see at the corporates. Now they show a few films around the edge, but everything else is available elsewhere. So I think the battle has been lost already.

Report this post »

Orhanveli says...
9:52am Fri 7 Dec 12

banargustrolls wrote:
You put hard 'time'.
I'd rather it stayed completely out of the way of Cineworld that's what I'd rather. They sold to the highest bidder - not all were corporate munching nightmares like them..
Oh so you was correcting my typo? Thanks ever so.

'They sold to the highest bidder', to quote your late post 'that's business'!

Report this post »

Ballroom Blitz says...
12:11pm Fri 7 Dec 12

It's a shame. It won't stay the same I fear. It's the only place to see foreign films, which are generally 100 times better than the Hollywood mush available at normal cinemas. Maybe Cineworld will keep their word, but I doubt it. It IS better than it shutting and being turned into yet another rip off NCP car park.

Report this post »

Valerie Paynter says...
12:14pm Fri 7 Dec 12

Grow a business; expand to a few outlets; pretty soon its a chain. Trigger point reached: sell. It was ever thus, alas.

The comments consensus is probably spot-on. It will dumb down and lose the personal and quirky touches. Worse, there is the danger of Cineworld either breaking it all up and selling off or liquidating bits of the 'chain' in order to 'rationalise' its portfolio or pay down debt.

Like the man who marries his mistress, creating a job vacancy for a mistress, it seems likely that a gap in the market for an 'art' cinema will now inevitably open up.

Report this post »

Roundbill says...
1:15pm Fri 7 Dec 12

lol - a couple of years ago, the manager was talking about how successful the place was and claiming that he was intending to buy the fire station in order to expand: now it's being flogged off to allow a chain to run it at a loss for a couple of years then sell it off for redevelopment.
Anyone who honestly believes there'll be a cinema at Preston Circus by the end of 2014 is an idiot.

Report this post »

musesboy says...
1:54pm Fri 7 Dec 12

Er, do any of you actually go to the Doy? They have just opened more screens at the Komedia http://www.komedia.c
o.uk/brighton/duke-o
f-yorks/

The old DoY may be going but they live on.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree