New Redcar cinema operator search on course, council says

The new cinema is being built on the site of the former Regent which closed in 2018

An operator for a new £9.6m seafront cinema will be found in time for a summer opening, a council has said.

Redcar and Cleveland Council is overseeing the process of finding someone to run the new cinema in Redcar to replace the former Regent.

After concerns were expressed about finding an operator, the council said it was "confident" one would be in place by June.

Ensuring tickets are affordable will be a key factor, the council said.

The £9.6m project, which was funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority, saw the demolition of the 1920s-built Regent after it was declared unsafe due to its deteriorating structure and closed in 2018.

The cinema should be ready opening in the summer, the council says

The replacement three-storey "art deco-style" cinema building is "stunning" and "unique" according to council leader Mary Lanigan and features a bar with sea views and a public events space.

Construction work is due to finish in March, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Coatham ward councillor Neil Baldwin said there had been "Chinese whispers" that there were no interested parties, or only "pretend" interested parties in the cinema, and he asked a scrutiny committee meeting if the council "had confidence" an operator would soon be found.

Louise Anderson, the council's head of place development and investment, said four firms had submitted tenders after the process was "reset" when the initial quality of the bids was not what the authority was looking for.

The previous Regent Cinema was built in the 1920s

"I have utmost confidence that we will secure an operator and they will be the right operator," she said.

Councillor Chris Jones, a Liberal Democrat who represents the West Dyke ward in Redcar, said it would be an "absolutely fantastic facility" but the main concern was "affordability" of tickets.

Ms Anderson said the the cinema would have to get "bums on seats" for it to be commercially viable and "the way to do that is to make it affordable for people to come".