Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 18 November 2020

MOOKY GREIDINGER, Chief Executive Officer for Cineworld Cinemas, has thanked Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council for their ongoing and continued support of the Hinckley Cineworld cinema venue, following its temporary closure.

Mr. Greidinger responded to a number of concerns that were raised following the temporary closure of Hinckley’s Crescent-based Cineworld venue.

Bill Cullen, Chief Executive for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, approached Cineworld following Council Leader Stuart Bray’s request in a recent Council meeting, after the Hinckley location temporarily closed with all of Cineworld’s UK venues back in October.

Cineworld, the world’s second biggest cinema chain, made the decision to temporarily close the doors to all of their UK locations in October as they were heavily impacted by capacity restrictions and major movie delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In The Borough Council’s letter to Cineworld, they highlighted the popularity of the cinema adding that it is ‘a much-loved facility’ that Borough residents asked to see return to town as a part of the multi-million pound Crescent complex, which opened in December 2015.

Before Cineworld, Hinckley were without a cinema. The town was once home to three cinemas – The Regent, Danilo, and Odeon.

The former Danilo cinema sits empty and untouched and was last used as a sports bar. The Regent cinema sits empty and faced partial-demolition for an Iceland car park.

The other, once an Odeon Cinema, has been fully demolished and Nationwide Building Society now stands in its space.

This meant that until the creation of The Crescent, residents had to travel elsewhere to watch movies on the silver screen.

The Borough Council sought further discussions over safeguarding the long-term future of the Cineworld venue in The Crescent.

The Council offered to work with the cinema’s partners, including the DWP, to provide help and advice to any Cineworld employees who have been affected.

Mooky Greidinger explained that all employees for Hinckley’s Cineworld venue “who remained with the business and are not required to work”, and that employees have been furloughed now that the furlough scheme ‘has been extended in its previous form’, until the town branch reopen their doors.

Greidinger agreed that the Cinema is an important asset to Hinckley’s town centre, and he agreed to discuss further re-opening updates in due time.

He added: “The health and safety of our team and customers remain our priority, and we will do everything we can to reopen our cinemas safely as soon as we can.”

Speaking out on the statement received from Cineworld, Council Leader for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Stuart Bray, said: “I welcome this update from Cineworld, particularly the news that the company is now able to retain its valued employees which was a particular concern.

“We know how important that facility is to our local residents so we will continue to work closely with Cineworld to do what we can to safeguard its future in Hinckley.”