Cinema to stay in Hinckley

In July, Cineworld announced it intended to close six of its cinemas nationwide including Hinckley. However, the Borough Council, which owns the unit in The Crescent occupied by Cineworld, has now agreed renewed terms with Cineworld that will keep the cinema open in the town.

The Hinckley Cineworld cinema takes pride of place in The Crescent, the multi-million-pound town centre mixed retail and leisure redevelopment scheme which opened in December 2015. The cinema is a key facility that the residents of the borough asked to see returned to the town as part of the redevelopment.

Following Cineworld’s announcement in the summer, a number of other national and independent cinema operators got in touch with the council with a view to taking over the lease if Cineworld did close its Hinckley cinema.

Council Leader Stuart Bray said: “This is excellent news for the town, for the taxpayer, for Cineworld employees and for local businesses. Not only does it safeguard the future of this great facility.in Hinckley town centre it also ensures the taxpayer continues to receive a rental income from Cineworld which helps to fund our public services.

“High Streets up and down the country are facing challenging times, but Hinckley is bucking that trend with retail occupancy rates and footfall above the Midlands average along with a great range of independent and national businesses. We want it to stay that way, so we’ve taken the necessary action to ensure we do that.

“The amount of interest we’ve had from alternative cinema operators for this site shows that keeping the facility is the right decision. I thank those operators for coming forward and for the interest they have shown in Hinckley.”