South African cinema operator Ster-Kinekor has set to take on Virgin in the battle to open the first city centre multiplex in Cardiff.
Ster Kinekor will be the first occupier to be confirmed at Brunswick Holdings’ Millennium Plaza scheme which will be built next to the new Millennium Stadium development.
The chain is thought to have agreed to operate a 14 screen cinema alongside the new Millennium Stadium development in the city as part of an ambitious expansion plan in the UK.
Developer Brunswick – which is developing a scheme on the site of the former Empire Pool by the stadium on Scott Street – and Virgin have been granted planning permission for their opposing schemes and are racing to be the first to open.
Virgin Cinemas is planning a 16-screen Megaplex in-town operation on Mary Ann Street and, subject to a Section 106 condition on the planning consent, developer EJ Developments can now strart work.
Ster-Kinekor is tipped to have signed up on five separate sites in the UK and Ireland, including schemes in Romford, Essex, Olympia, London, Norwich and at Liffey Valley near Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.
