Vue Cinemas


Vue International, formerly SBC International Cinemas, is a British multinational cinema company operating in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Taiwan.
The company was founded in May 2003 by the acquisition of Warner Village Cinemas by SBC and the subsequent rebranding of the business as Vue. As of 2018, the company has 228 cinemas and 1,989 screens internationally, including in the United Kingdom 271 3D screens, 9 Extreme Screens, 6 Scene Screens and Bars, and 3 IMAX screens.
The parent company Vue International expanded through a number of acquisitions, including the Ster Century chain, Apollo Cinemas and Multikino. In June 2006, Vue's executive team completed a management buy out with the backing of Bank of Scotland Corporate, taking a 51% stake in the business and buying the four remaining Warner Village sites it had been operating under contract from Village Roadshow.
The company was bought by the private equity firm Doughty Hanson & Co in November 2010. In June 2013, Doughty Hanson & Co announced the sale of the company to the Canadian firms Alberta Investment Management Corporation and OMERS for £935 million.
The company's original slogan was entitled Enjoy the Vue, was used from its opening in May 2003 until February 2010, when the company adopted 'the future of cinema' as its slogan to mark the opening of their Westfield cinema. Thereafter, in October 2015, the company decided to have a makeover, and – with a new rebranding – renamed the slogan as Big Screen Entertainment, respectively. The slogan remained the same until the launch of the company's Get Lost campaign in January 2020.
On 17 March 2020, Vue and other cinema companies like Cineworld and Odeon Cinemas in the UK temporarily closed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, stating that they'll "remain closed until further notice". As of 29 July 2020, the company's cinemas across Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands are now reopened, whereas the UK cinemas will open on 7 August 2020.

History

The company was founded in 1999 by Stewart Blair, a former executive of United Artists Theatres and Tim Richards, a former executive of Warner Bros. International Theatres. The company was original named Spean Bridge Cinemas after a holiday to the Scottish Highland village of the same name by Stewart Blair.
The first cinema to open was under The Circuit Cinema brand in Livingston, Scotland, on 5 October 2000. The company was later renamed as SBC International Cinemas and opened cinemas in Faro, Portugal and Taipei, Taiwan
In May 2003, SBC bought Warner Village Cinemas from its owners, Village Roadshow and Warner Bros., for £250 million. At the time, SBC owned four cinemas, and Warner Village Cinemas owned 36. In April 2005, the chain acquired the Ster Century chain from Aurora Entertainment; this included the highest grossing cinema in the United Kingdom or Ireland at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Dublin, Ireland.
On 20 June 2006, Vue's executive team completed a management buy out of the company with the backing of Bank of Scotland Corporate; the management team retaining a 51% stake. Also, as part of the buy out, Vue took full ownership of the four Village sites it had been operating under contract from Village Roadshow. The private equity firm Doughty Hanson & Co acquired Vue in November 2010.
On 13 September 2011, Vue opened their biggest cinema in the United Kingdom at the new Westfield Stratford City. They had previously opened at Westfield London in 2010. Vue bought the company Apollo in May 2012, retaining 14 new sites across the United Kingdom, making it the third largest cinema company in the United Kingdom, behind Odeon and Cineworld.
By 2013, it was reported that Vue had 143 cinemas. In May 2013, Vue Entertainment acquired Multikino, the Polish cinema operator owning thirty cinemas with almost 250 screens in Poland and Baltic countries.
In June 2013, Doughty Hanson & Co announced it had sold Vue to the Canadian pension funds Alberta Investment Management Corporation and OMERS for £935 million. In November 2014, Vue International acquired 'The Space Cinema'. In August 2015, Vue International acquired JT Bioscopen the second largest cinema chain in the Netherlands, bringing Vue's number of sites to over 200.
In June 2018, Vue acquired the Irish operator Showtime Cinemas, adding a further two cinemas to their estate in the United Kingdom and Ireland, now totalling 89 cinemas.

Locations

Vue International has nearly 230 sites and almost 2000 screens globally. Below is a list of the countries and number of sites the company serves:

Impact of the [COVID-19 pandemic]

In Spring 2020, a deadly virus called Coronavirus hit the UK and the world, forcing all cinemas to close according to the British Government, NHS and World Health Organization.

March: Closure

On 17 March 2020, Vue temporarily closed their cinemas due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The London HQ in Chiswick was also shutdown due to the lockdown, but its staff including CEO Timothy Richards still were able to continue working via virtual meetings using Zoom.

April to August: Furlough period

On 14 April, the company's employees were told by Steve Knibbs, COO of Vue International, that they would be on furlough from 16 April to 30 June, with a review held every three weeks. On 1 July, the furlough period was extended until 31 August.

May to present: Reopening

Plans for reopening

On 5 May, CEO and founder of Vue, Tim Richards, stated in a discussion with the BBC: "If all goes to plan, the chain could be back in business for the launch of director Christopher Nolan's action movie Tenet on 17 July." Also on 6 May, a weekly newsletter entitled Your Vue was sent to employees who work for their localised site. On 13 May, the cinema chain set out plans for reopening its cinemas across the UK and Ireland, whilst sticking to the current social distancing measures.

European countries reopen and UK plans made

Between May and June 2020, 44 cinemas across Europe were reopened, whereas other markets were expected to reopen from 17 July 2020 as part of the third step in a "roadmap" plan made by the UK Government. On 3 June, Vue revealed that the UK and Ireland reopening dates will be differed gradually; the England sites will be reopened throughout July and August, whereas the Welsh, Scottish and Irish cinemas will reopen sometime between August and September. Customer assistant workers will be updated by their General/Area manager from 17 June. On 17 June, Tim Richards gave an update to employees saying that 44 of the 228 global sites are re-operating again, with newly-placed safety measures including: social distancing, regular use of hand sanitizer, and virtual online booking and contactless payment.
;Reopened European venues
On 23 June, it was revealed that the first 20 cinemas in England, including the North West, The Midlands and London-based areas, would reopen from Friday, July 10. Other sites within the UK would be likely to reopen over the following weeks. On 1 July, there were discussions as to delay the reopening date in the UK until the end of July, due to release dates for Disney's live-action adaptation of Mulan and Christopher Nolan's thriller Tenet being delayed until mid-August 2020. Simultaneously, Vue announced that same day that their cinema openings in the UK would be delayed by three weeks to 31 July 2020. On July 29, the company once again delayed their reopening date until a week later due to Christopher Nolan's Tenet being pushed to 26 August 2020.

New measures made and First Cinema Memories

On July 10, newly appointed General Manager of Vue UK and Ireland Toby Bradon, announced in the latest Your Vue newsletter that the first ten cinemas opening from July 31 will feature new safety measures and protocols including social distancing, hand sanitizer, staff PPE and contactless payment. The day prior, on July 9, a new series of short clips featuring a variety of Hollywood celebrities recollecting their cinema experience, was posted on the company's YouTube channel.

Phased reopening

On July 30, Vue announced that from the start of August, they would begin a phased reopening of its UK venues.

Cinemas reopening in 2020

;United Kingdom

Facilities

Vue's multiplexes vary from 4 to 30 screens. Each cinema is run by a team consisting of one general manager assisted by between two and five other members of the management team. The general manager has general control of the running of the cinema at site level, while assisted by the other members of the management team.
Team Leaders act as duty managers and are responsible for the operational running of a cinema on a shift basis. Customer Assistants serve guests throughout the cinema and report to the management team.
All cinemas have a dedicated projection team, responsible for the running of the "box" and the maintenance of the projection and sound equipment. The technical manager has overall responsibility, supported by a Senior Projectionist. They are accompanied by a team of two to four full or part-time projection staff, some of which can also share duties with the standard operation of the cinema.
However, all Vue sites are now fully digital, and therefore ran by the management team, or Technical Manager.
Vue completed the rollout of the Vista Entertainment Solutions integrated Point of Sale software to every site in 2006. Prior to this the majority of Vue cinemas ran the WaBITS ticketing system, developed in house in London by Warner Bros. International Cinemas.
This was an internal system used in all former Warner Village cinemas until 2007, when the division responsible for development was closed owing to the sale of the remaining joint venture cinema chains. WaBITS continues to be used in Japan by Warner Mycal Cinemas who now own the rights to the system.
The new system enables customers to buy tickets at any retail point in the cinema as well as online through the company website. Vue were the first major cinema operator in the United Kingdom to implement this "single point of sale" concept.
The implementation of this system in all of the locations means that none of the Vue cinemas now have dedicated box offices, All transactions are now carried out at automated ticketing machines and retail stands. In May 2004, Vue purchased the Premiere Cinema in Accrington for £850,000.
It then carried out refurbishment work at the four screen complex. By April 2005, the cinema was making profits for the first time.
In October 2015, Vue cinemas opened in Farnborough and planning permission has been approved for an eight screen venue on Elizabeth Street and Westcott Way in Corby. In the end of 2015, Vue Cheshire Oaks & Leeds were upgraded to be the first two cinemas to have IMAX screens.
Vue built the United Kingdom's first eSports arena in cooperation with Gfinity, costing £350,000. The Fulham Broadway cinema was converted into a six hundred seat 'Gfinity Arena,' to host e gaming events On 14 April 2017, it was announced that Vue had acquired the twenty screen Odeon Printworks complex in Manchester. This would add an additional IMAX screen to the company's estate. The cinema opened under the Vue brand on 24 May 2017.