Australian cinema chain Hoyts is planning to quit the UK.
It has been sounding out interest in its multiplex at Bluewater, Kent. One industry insider claimed it was asking £12m for the 12-screen complex. Hoyts had originally intended to open 150 s screens here. It has binding agreements to build cinemas in Wood Green, north London, Liverpool and Wolverhampton.
A feature on cinemas in The Times points out that nearly 1,400 new cinemas screens have opened since 1985 at 140 multiplex sites.Almost half have opened in the past three years as the property industryre-emerged from the recession at the beginning of the decade. It saysthere are signs the pace of development is slowing.
The Times 03/09/99 page 30, page 33
