The Light Cinemas

The Light Cinemas (stylised as the light) is a British independent cinema chain that exclusively screens films using digital cinema technology.

The Light Cinemas (Holdings) Ltd.
TypeLimited Company
IndustryEntertainment (movie theatres)
Founded2007
Founders
  • John Sullivan
  • Keith Pullinger
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK[1]
Number of locations
13 cinemas (2023)
Websitehttps://www.thelight.co.uk/

The Light was founded in 2007 by former Cineworld director Keith Pullinger and former Warner Village Cinemas director John Sullivan.[2] The oldest UK cinema in the chain is currently in New Brighton, which opened in December 2011. Since then, twelve more venues have opened across the UK, while the company has also been involved in cinema exhibition internationally, in Bulgaria, Germany, and Saudi Arabia.

The cinema chain offers screenings of both mainstream and independent films in a 'luxurious' environment, with standard cinema ticket prices. Their venues also include a café/bar, and some include entertainment facilities such as bowling, karaoke, climbing, and retro arcades. The Light offers Premiere cards, which allow subscribers to view films for a flat monthly fee.[3]

Brand

The Light Cinemas initially sought to compete with its major rivals by taking advantage of digital cinema technology, which is comparatively cheaper than traditional film stock projection.[2] The chain is exclusively digital, and meaning that it is able to also broadcast sport, live theatre, music and opera performances.[4] Additionally, Pullinger has argued that digital screening gives The Light a 'flexibility' to choose between showing more, different films and showing the same film on several screens simultaneously.[5]

The Light also pitches itself as a "community" cinema.[2] It offers an alternative to the traditional multiplex concept, focusing on customer comfort, and criticising larger chains for being "locked into Hollywood blockbusters".[5] They do showings in various different languages depending on local demographics,[2] and offer some with audio description, subtitles, and that cater to the needs of those with dementia or autism.[6] In the spring of 2019, The Light did screenings of a variety of anime films, including some from Studio Ghibli.[7]

As part of their attempts to create what Pullinger described as a "cinema environment that feels luxurious, with plenty of atmosphere and personality",[6] The Light cinemas have a café/bar incorporated into the venue.[2] For example, in the Bolton venue that opened in 2016 they included large murals depicting heroic movie characters, and designed their furniture to have a rough finish in a nod to the town's industrial heritage.[8] From 2022, the chain started offering new facilities in some of its venues, such as bowling, mini-golf, interactive darts, climbing facilities and karaoke.[9]

History

Founded in 2007 by Keith Pullinger and John Sullivan,[2] The Light opened its first UK venue in December 2011 in New Brighton,[10] followed later by a second venue in Wisbech in May 2014.[11]

The cinema chain made national headlines in 2015, when they successfully raised the £5.2 million needed to purchase a nine-screen multiplex in Cambridge from rival company Cineworld.[2] The latter had been forced to sell the venue following a Competition Commission ruling.[12]

At this point in January 2015, they had already signed new lease agreements in Bolton, Sheffield, Thetford, Dundee, Stockport and Walsall.[2] While the Dundee site eventually fell through as negotiations with the local shopping centre fell apart,[13] the other five venues successfully opened over the next three years.[8][14][15][16][17] Two more sites, in Addlestone and Bradford, opened in 2018, bringing their total in the UK up to 10.[18][6]

COVID-19 pandemic and reopening

Following the nationwide UK COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, cinemas across the country were forced to close. They were briefly able to reopen from August 2020, but following the imposition of a second and later a third lockdown in England, they were forced to close again.[19]

In May 2021, fourteen months after their initial closure, The Light cinemas were able to open again. This month also saw them open their eleventh UK venue in Sittingbourne.[19]

The economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic also destroyed the chain's hopes of opening a venue in Nottingham. Plans in the city fell apart when shopping centre company Intu, leaders on the transformation project, went into administration in June 2020 due to the pandemic.[9]

Despite this setback, Pullinger maintained that The Light was “actively seeking” a venue in Nottingham, with the chain offering an ‘expanded’ offering to new sites. This included not just cinema screenings, a café and bar, but also bowling, mini-golf, interactive darts, climbing facilities and karaoke. The first site to offer these new facilities was based in Banbury,[9] and opened in 2022.[20] In 2023, the chain’s 13th site was opened in Redhill, Surrey, including these facilities and also introducing for the first time axe throwing, curling and duckpin bowling.[21]

Future locations

Plans to open a venue in Huddersfield got off the ground in January 2021, after developer WD Limited was loaned £7 million by Kirklees Council.[22] After years of delays, which the developer blamed on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was announced in March 2023 that redevelopment would start imminently, with a target opening date set for September 2024.[23]

A venue in Colchester was announced in 2020, as part of the 'Tollgate Village' development project in Tollgate West, near Stanway, Essex. The cinema was originally slated to be finished by the end of 2021.[24] In June 2021 the directors of the firm responsible for the development said that they "hope to commence building next year [2022]".[25] As of June 2023, this development was expected to go ahead, although with no clear completion date set.[26]

Locations
Location Screens Date opened Notes
Addlestone[18] 6 5 Oct 2018
Banbury[20] 7 10 Jun 2022
Bolton[8] 9 7 Oct 2016
Bradford[6] 6 11 May 2018
Cambridge[2] 9 30 Jan 2015 Venue purchased from Cineworld
New Brighton[10] 8 2 Dec 2011
Redhill[27] 6 16 Jun 2023
Sheffield[14][28] 9 14 Apr 2017
Sittingbourne[19] 8 28 May 2021
Stockport[16] 12 24 Nov 2017
Thetford[15] 3 2 Dec 2016
Walsall[17] 8 18 Mar 2016
Wisbech[11] 8 23 May 2014


International expansion

In Europe

After its founding in 2007, the first venues that the company opened were not in the UK. Before the opening of its New Brighton venue in 2011, The Light had opened a cinema in Bucharest, Romania in 2008, and another venue in Halle, Germany in 2009.[29] The Romanian part of the company dissolved in 2015,[30] and Pullinger announced that the venue in Germany would be closed in July 2021 due to financial pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.[31]

Saudi Arabia

In March 2019, The Light Cinemas 'made history' by being awarded an operating license to exhibit films in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This was done in cooperation with the London-based cinema consultancy firm The Big Picture, of which both Sullivan and Pullinger were founding partners, and in partnership with the FAHG Saudi fashion retail group run by Fawaz Alhokair, with venues being integrated into FAHG shopping centres. The brand name used in Saudi Arabia is MUVI, and it is described as Saudi Arabia's first home-grown cinema brand, founded only a year after the Kingdom lifted a thirty-five year ban on cinemas.[32]

This sparked controversy due to the international backlash against Saudi Arabia following the government's murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018. In response, Pullinger argued that the fallout from Khashoggi's murder was "for politicians to deal with", and that "Saudi Arabia represents the biggest opportunity for box office growth in the world". The Light claimed that it was one of only five companies to qualify for the Saudi government’s operating license at the time.[33] By the end of 2021, MUVI cinemas had successfully opened 21 locations across the country, alongside investing in film distribution and film production.[34]

References
  1. "The Light Cinemas (Holdings) Limited overview". Companies House. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  2. "Indie cinema chain to challenge UK's 'homogenous' giants". The Telegraph. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  3. "Join - The Light". The Light Cinemas. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  4. "The Light confirmed as new cinema chain for Thetford Riverside development". Eastern Daily Press. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  5. "The Light Cinemas leads in UK & Europe on new Cinema Development". Ozseeker. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  6. "Popcorn at the ready: Here's when The Light cinema opens in Broadway". The Telegraph and Argus. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  7. "The Light Cinema to screen Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Studio Ghibli as part of their Anime Season line-up". Anime UK News. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  8. "REVIEW: The Light Cinema opens at Bolton's Market Place Shopping Centre". The Bolton News. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  9. "Cinema boss 'actively seeking' venue in Nottingham despite failed Broadmarsh Centre plans". Nottinghamshire Live. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  10. "New Brighton new cinema The Light gets RNLI-themed opening night". Liverpool Echo. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  11. "Light Cinemas Wisbech". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  12. "Jobs saved as Cineworld sells its Cambridge branch to international chain The Light". Cambridgeshire Live. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  13. "Could cinema plans in Dundee's Wellgate be back on track?". The Courier. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  14. "New cinema, The Light, opens on The Moor". Sheffield Live. 14 April 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  15. "A look behind the scenes at Thetford's new cinema". Eastern Daily Press. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  16. "Take a look around Stockport's brand new Redrock cinema". Manchester Evening News. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  17. "Light Cinema to open in Walsall next month as part of £12 million development". Birmingham Live. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  18. "The Light Cinema in Addlestone opens its doors to the public". Surrey Live. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  19. "Sittingbourne sees The Light as new cinema prepares to open". Kent Online. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  20. "New cinema set to open in Banbury's town centre". Oxford Mail. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  21. "The Light Opens New Cinema & Entertainment Venue in Redhill". Retail & Leisure International. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  22. "Kingsgate cinema plan WILL go ahead thanks to £7m Kirklees Council loan". Yorkshire Live. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  23. "Work on new Huddersfield cinema and bowling complex set to start". Yorkshire Live. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  24. "The Light to open multi-screen cinema at Tollgate Village". 10 March 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  25. "New plans for £65m Tollgate Village development in Stanway submitted". 17 June 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  26. "How Colchester areas have changed since the year 2000". 3 June 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  27. "The Light opens new cinema and entertainment venue in Redhill". The Business Magazine. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  28. "Light Cinemas Sheffield". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  29. "Neptune hands over cinema for fit-out". Place North West. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  30. "The Light Cinemas (Romania) Limited overview". Companies House. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  31. "Light Cinemas: Home". Light Cinemas. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  32. "UK Company, The Light Cinemas, in conjunction with The Big Picture, Is Awarded One of Few Operating Licenses in Saudi Arabia". Celluloid Junkie. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  33. "UK indie multiplex chain The Light Cinemas to expand into Saudi Arabia". Screen Daily. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  34. "Word of mouth is driving cinemagoing in Saudi, says Muvi Cinemas executive". Screen Daily. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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