Cinema chain with 8 Scots branches ‘to close 25 sites & axe hundreds of jobs’

A POPULAR cinema chain with eight locations in Scotland is planning to close 25 branches across the UK.

Cineworld is expected to announce closures and job losses tomorrow amid a restructuring plan.

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Under the plans, 25 cinemas will shut for good before the end of the summer, Sky News reports.

It is unknown how many jobs will be affected, but it’s understood that it would be “at least in the hundreds”.

The chain will also seek to renegotiate rent agreements for around 50 other cinemas up and down the country.

And a further 25 cinemas will be left unaffected by the restructuring plans and will remain open for the foreseeable.

Other cinema operators are expected to step in to take over some of Cineworld’s sites.

Cineworld has eight sites across Scotland including Aberdeen Queens Links and Union Street, Dundee, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow Renfrew Street, Parkhead and Silverburn.

It is unclear at the moment if any of the Scottish venues will be affected.

Cineworld has been contacted for comment.

Earlier this month, Cineworld was said to be weighing up its options and considering a major restructuring, which could include closures.

It came after Cineworld emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US late last year.

Filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy means a company intends to reorganise its debts and assets while remaining in business.

At the time, the future of the chain’s 129 UK and Irish cinemas appeared to be in danger.

The company’s shares plunged almost 99 per cent in the five years to 2023, as it was hit particularly hard by the pandemic and the enforced closure of its cinema sites.

Shortly after, Cineworld’s UK arm collapsed into administration on July 31.

Since then appointed administrators at Alix Partners have been assessing plans for a major restructure.