What’s gone wrong at Everyman and can the luxury cinema chain regain its magic? | Travel & leisure

KWith its comfy sofas and menu of gourmet treats such as Béarnaise burgers and trendy Whispering Angel rosé wine, priced at £47 a bottle, Everyman has proven successful as the go-to chain for a luxury cinema trip.

A quarter of a century after reinventing the cinema-going experience, the arthouse chain, which has grown from a single venue in Hampstead, London, into a 49-location national player, finds itself struggling as rivals imitate its successful formula.

Everyman issued a profit warning in early December, causing stunned investors to wipe out almost a fifth of its market value, and days later the company’s chief financial officer announced his departure.

At the end of the month, former Côte restaurants boss Alex Scrimgeour, who was tasked with managing the post-pandemic recovery in 2021, resigned as chief executive with immediate effect – according to one analyst’s assessment. “a year to forget”.

While 2025 is a scary year for everyone, underlying issues have been on the rise since Covid temporarily closed cinemas; The company’s share price has fallen nearly 80% over the past five years as the industry also deals with strikes by Hollywood actors and writers and an uneven hit stream.

David Hancock, chief media and entertainment analyst at research firm Omdia, said: “Everyone has lost their edge at some point. I don’t think it’s just about the challenges faced by all players in the market.

“In the premium market, everyone has set the bar and everyone has become everyone’s target. Major competitors such as Odeon and Vue have launched premium-based concepts. There is more competition than ever before.”

As debt continues to rise, Everyman has suffered pre-tax losses of more than £56 million over the past six years and has failed to make a pre-tax profit since 2019.

Its typically upbeat quarterly financial updates are largely driven by continued field expansion masking issues elsewhere; the most recent opening was at The Whiteley in West London last August.

Behind the scenes, some of the theaters it owned were underperforming. Everyman has booked impairment charges of more than £6m over the last three years after an annual appraisal of venues found that “future cash flows do not support the carrying value of the assets associated with a particular location”.

Responsibility for turning the business around was given to Farah Golant, whose work included running All3Media, the TV production group responsible for shows like The Traitors and Call the Midwife, and running the advertising firm behind the famous commercials. Including Guinness’ classic Surfer.

The 61-year-old joined the Everyman board in September and was appointed interim CEO on the same day Scrimgeour abruptly left. It immediately froze its expansion program to focus on paying down its £21.6m debt. Investors have responded positively, with the share price rising 24% since the start of the year to 36p.

Golant said in April that next year would be about “recalibrating to drive growth.” Although it is yet to announce details of its turnaround plan, analysts who have spoken to the company say there is plenty of scope for it.

Changes could include allowing pre-ordering before moviegoers arrive, allowing kitchens to operate more efficiently and generating more profit from food and beverage sales. Another focus is likely to be on its membership programme, which charges £95 to £680 per year and rose 18.5% to 67,000 last year.

Given Everyman’s trendy, luxury brand, analysts believe it’s also perfectly positioned to capitalize on the moviegoing boom among Generation Z (people born between 1997 and 2012 who have grown up using streaming and social media as default entertainment and are increasingly seeking real-life experiences).

“The market’s appetite for world-class cinema is growing,” Golant said. “By putting audiences and their experiences at the center of our growth strategy, we can think differently about how we program, maximize our membership value, design for families and Gen Z, optimize our live venues as third spaces, and cultivate relationships with distributors and brand partners.”

At £32 million, Everyman’s market capitalization is almost the same as when the company listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2013, when it had just a handful of sites but had national ambitions.

Its largest shareholder, Blue Coast, owned by River Island’s founders, the Lewis family, has been increasing its stake from around 20% to more than 29% since late 2023; This is slightly below the threshold required to make a takeover bid.

The Lewises are one of three key family-led shareholders who have supported Everyman since its early days and provided part of the £7 million investment that enabled the acquisition of Screen Cinemas in 2008 and paved the way for an IPO and national expansion.

Others are Adam and Sam Kaye, founders of the Ask and Zizzi pizza chains, the former of whom is executive director, and the Dorfman family.

Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman served as a director for several years, and his son Charles has been on the board for 17 years and was appointed interim creative director in February.

Families control more than 50 percent of Everyman; Private equity group Gresham House is the second most important investor with a 9.54 percent stake.

This year will be a crucial test not only for Everyman’s investors, but also for the movie industry, which is still struggling to find the new normal amid ongoing competition from streaming companies and rising household costs that are making consumers ever more cautious about where they spend their money.

The UK box office hit £989.5 million last year, the highest since 2019, but still fell well short of the £1.25 billion the industry made from ticket sales that year. Although box office receipts are rising, overall admission numbers fell to 123.5 million last year and remain down 30% from pre-pandemic levels, according to industry body UKCA.

Andrew Renton, research director at Cavendish, says Everyman faces “a year of consolidation” but the chain still has “very strong brand equity”.

“It looks like Waitrose,” he said. “People have an affection for someone who lives in their town or village, especially at a time when the high street is under pressure. It’s still cool and people still enjoy that luxury experience, that special treatment. This year is a litmus test of that.”