The spotlight's on WTW-Scott Cinemas in south west England

In 2017, WTW Cinemas and Scott Cinemas merged to become WTW-Scott Cinemas. Sandie Caffelle talks to Director, Mark Williams, about the merger and how the future’s looking for the company, in...

A SPOTLIGHT ON...

WTW-Scott Cinemas, UK

CT: When were WTW and Scott Cinemas formed? WTW Cinemas was formed in 1945 with the purchase of The Capitol Theatre in St Austell. The founding members were the father and grandfather of current owner, David Williams, who joined the business in 1966. David’s sons, Robert and Mark (myself), joined the company in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Scott Cinemas was founded in the 1960s by Charles Scott, who at the time was the manager of the Alexandra Cinema in Newton Abbot [Devon, England], with Peter Hoare becoming the owner in the 1980s. At the time Peter became the owner there were four (mostly loss-making at the time!) cinemas in Bridgwater, Dartmouth, Lyme Regis and Newton Abbot.

CT: What were your separate achievements prior to the merger? Since forming in 1945, WTW Cinemas has evolved to its current operation of four cinemas, all in central and eastern Cornwall. The cinemas are in Newquay, St. Austell, Truro and Wadebridge. St. Austell and Newquay are purpose built, new-build cinemas that opened in 2008 and 2011. Scott Cinemas has grown to operate seven cinemas from Barnstaple in North Devon, up to East Grinstead in West Sussex. October 2022 saw the company open our biggest cinema with a seven-screen complex in Bridgwater Northgate, with the other cinemas being located in Barnstaple, Bristol (Henleaze), East Grinstead, Exmouth, Newton Abbot and Sidmouth.

For both companies, the cinemas are primarily in smaller towns and cities and form a key part of the local high streets and town centres, with the cinemas ranging from one to seven screens (now including Bridgwater Northgate. There have been many awards presented to both companies with The Plaza Truro winning RAAM Independent Cinema of The Year in 2006, the Central Barnstaple winning the same award in 2008 and White River Cinema in St Austell repeating that success in 2011. The technical team at The Plaza Truro was presented with the Team of the Year Award in 2013 at the Dolby Headquarters. David Williams was awarded an MBE for services to Regional Cinema in 2013, with Peter Hoare being given an Exhibition Achievement Award at the 2018 Screen Awards. Peter was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to cinema in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2020.

The exterior of the new Bridgwater Northgate site

CT: Why did you decide to amalgamate the two companies and when did this happen? Scott Cinemas owner, Peter Hoare, approached the directors of WTW in 2015 regarding the possible purchase of his company. In 2017, a first sale of shares in Scott Cinemas to WTW took place, with WTW Cinemas becoming the majority shareholder in 2019. The companies shared many of the same suppliers and had a great deal of similarities, with David Williams and Peter Hoare having a long-standing friendship on the back of both companies’ growth and success over many years.

CT: What have you achieved together so far, as a single company? In the last five years, there has been extensive refurbishment of the cinemas at Exmouth and Wadebridge, alongside smaller works at other cinemas and all the planning for the new seven-screen cinema in Bridgwater Northgate which opened in October this year. We have worked closely with Eomac for new wall decoration and acoustic panelling during the refurbishments, and also installed new Ferco seats at Bristol, Exmouth and Truro. Bell Theatre Services installed laser projection in screen one at Barnstaple and the same was done at the Bristol site before the cinema reopened in July 2020 following the first lockdown. A complete new sound system and all-new laser projection was installed at Sidmouth at the end of the first lockdown period. The new cinema at Northgate, Bridgwater will be the first new build to open across both companies since 2011 and it features two Atmos screens, as well as laser projection in five of the seven auditoriums. The cinema will have all new seats installed from Ferco, with two VIP screens including a 12-seat private hire screen.

CT: What are your plans for the future? The most immediate plan was to open and establish the new seven-screen cinema in Bridgwater, a project in partnership with Sedgemoor District Council. Discussions are currently ongoing regarding a new cinema in Newton Abbot as part of Teignbridge District Council’s plans to redevelop the town centre. All existing cinemas will be refurbished as necessary,

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WTW-Scott Cinemas,UK

The two companies together have 11 sites, Scott Cinemas operates seven, from Barnstaple in North Devon up to East Grinstead in West Sussex. WTW Cinemas has four sites in central and eastern Cornwall.

Top: The Plaza, Truro, Cornwall

The Bridgwater foyer

with the Central at Barnstaple earmarked for the most extensive works, including the possible addition of extra screens. There will also be a programme of sound and projection upgrades. Laser projection has been installed in screens in Barnstaple, Bristol and Sidmouth, and this will be extended to other sites over the coming months and years.

CT: How about diversification? Will you step into noncinema activities and if so, which areas would these be in? The new cinema at Bridgwater will feature a café area and an increased food and beverage offering as the cinema will be open throughout the day, so that will have an added focus in addition to cinema-going. This will be our first venture into a wider food offering so I’m sure there will be lots to learn along the way! In our more recent new builds, we have seen venues used for conferencing and events on several occasions, and now that those types of events are happening more widely, post-pandemic, we’d like to be able to expand this and offer a wider range of uses. We’ve seen things like gaming parties become very popular in some locations, so broadening the use and function of our cinemas will be important, going forward. One aspect we have seen since the pandemic is the decline in neighbouring restaurant operators, which has had quite an impact on the nighttime economies of several of the towns in which we operate. It might be that in the future we look to work more closely with restaurant operators for a mutually beneficial relationship and to increase the vibrancy of the areas in which we work, particularly in the evenings.

CT: What are your views on the future of the industry as a whole? Is there anything that WTW-Scott would like to see change or happen? The cinema industry has brought us so much over many years and it’s one we have loved being a small part of. We’ve been very fortunate to have developed so many good and close working relationships over many years and we’ve loved being part of an industry that has proved resilient throughout all the challenges it has faced, particularly in the last two-and-a-half years. Certainly, we’re incredibly appreciative of the hard work and dedication of our cinema teams over such a long time, there have been so many people who have stayed loyal and helped us along the way. The last couple of years have seen challenges that we could not possibly have envisaged. But we’re very grateful to still be here and look forward to what the future holds with a great deal of optimism.

One of the Bridgwater auditoriums

The Central in Barnstaple cinema exterior