
A cinema chain said they have no plans to leave their Lancaster site after it was put up for sale.
The Vue Cinema premises in Lancaster city centre is being marketed for offers of more than £4.25m.
Vue Entertainment Ltd have a 25-year lease on the building, and Vue Cinema said the property going up for sale does not affect their tenancy.
“We have no plans to leave our site at Church Street, and look forward to continuing to bring the big screen experience to our customers in Lancaster," said a Vue spokesperson.
The property is being marketed by leading estate firm Portland Leisure Advisers as a "freehold, purpose-built six-screen multiplex cinema in the heart of Lancaster, let to Vue - one of the UK’s leading operators".
Their website says the "property occupies a 0.7-acre prime site with direct access from Lancaster’s Market Square, ensuring high footfall".
They said it is a "multiplex cinema developed in 2001 totalling 44,542 sq ft, with 1,574 seats and additional retail and hospitality spaces" and the "only multiplex cinema in the city of Lancaster, benefiting from a population of over 142,000".
It is "let to Vue Entertainment Ltd on a 25-year lease commencing 15 June 2006, providing 6 years unexpired".
"Vue is one of the UK’s leading cinema operators with 92 sites and 225 globally.
"The company posted annual revenue of £274.6m (FY2023)."
They said the property has a "passing rent of £835,088 per annum...five-yearly rent reviews to the higher of Open Market Value, or a three per cent annual compounded uplift".
"The next review is due 15 June 2026, whereby the rent will rise to a minimum of £968,016 per annum.
"The tenant has the option to renew the lease at a passing rent of the higher of £1,124,206 per annum or Open Market Rent.
"(Vue) recently completed a major financial restructuring in January 2023, which provided an additional £75m in liquidity and significantly reduced its debt burden. This was achieved through a debt-for-equity swap, which removed approximately £470m of existing debt from its balance sheet. As part of this restructuring, Vue’s first-line lenders took 100 per cent equity ownership of the company."