Purpose

Elwick Place, the town centre’s flagship leisure and entertainment destination faced significant challenges due to wider pressures in the retail and leisure sector, leading to difficulties in letting units. When the anchor tenant Picturehouse withdrew, the Council intervened to keep the cinema operational and maintain the town centre offer.
This intervention has improved performance: the cinema has repositioned itself as a community-focused venue, with rising attendance, improved feedback, and increased community use for events and activities. While the Council has always aimed to secure a long-term commercial operator, keeping the cinema open has strengthened its attractiveness to the market.

A credible proposal was received from a new operator to take over day-to-day running of the cinema and most of the currently vacant units at Elwick Place. This is projected to significantly improve the financial position.

Recommendations I to X of the “Updated Exempt Recommendations to Cabinet” dated 10 July 2025 were approved, with authority delegated to the Section 151 Officer to approve the outcomes of due diligence and agree the transaction terms. This is subject to satisfactory oversight by the Elwick Place Due Diligence Working Group (as consultees), and to obtaining appropriate legal advice in relation to the Council’s best consideration duty, procurement requirements, subsidy control, insider dealing, and related matters.

Decision

Purchase of the Matches Lease and satisfactory oversight by the Elwick Place Due Diligence Working Group (as consultees), in accordance with the below;

Cabinet, 10 July 2025 – Minute 79: that recommendations i-x as per the exempt tabled paper be approved.

Full Council, 17th July 2025 – Minute 85 (b): Resolved that
the Minutes of the Meeting of the Cabinet held on the 10th July 2025 be received and noted with the exception of Minute No. 79.

Minute No. 79 be approved and adopted.

Alternative options considered

a) To achieve the presently envisaged transaction by buying the Matches company. Purchase 100% of the Matches company shareholding. This would appear on the face of it to be a cheaper option, but it comes along with unquantifiable and concomitant risks, which could become time consuming and costly to unravel, and undermine the underlying transaction particularly the staffing risks through TUPE and redundancy and reputational risks when ABC dissolves the company.

b)To do nothing (leave Matches in situ). This will make the development unattractive and unsuitable to Loop, who will withdraw their current offer and may find other suitable premises nearby. Continue to market units on an individual basis which to date has not proved particularly successful for commercial viability and tenant mix. This would continue to perpetuate the need for the Council to pick up void costs and negative publicity.

c)Further ongoing support for ACL or alternatively the closure of the cinema.