Future of Durham cinema under threat from new competition

The Gala Theatre’s cinema, in Durham, attracted fewer customers last year, with income at the venue falling by about £97,000 – a 20 per cent drop.

Overall, the venue, which has a 500-seat theatre, two-screen cinema and a cafe, saw its income fall by £285,000 in 2017/18.

• Durham cinema plans put on hold indefinitely

Durham County Council, which runs the Gala, has set up an improvement group to look at the long-term sustainability of the venue and is seeking to reduce costs by about £400,000.

Steve Howell, head of culture and sport at the council, is due to give a presentation to members of the council’s environment and sustainable communities overview and scrutiny committee tomorrow.

He is looking at the future of the cinema, including considering potential niche markets and the possibility of withdrawing from the cinema.

The council is concerned that added competition from a new Odeon cinema, which is currently under construction and is meant to open this year, and an Everyman cinema, which is planned as part of the Milburngate development, could impact on the number of people going to the Gala.

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In 2015 Picture House announced plans to take over the Gala cinema, but the plans were put on hold indefinitely in 2017 while they waited to assess the emerging competition.

In 2017/18, the Gala staged 347 live events, presented 2,093 cinema screenings, sold 186,183 tickets and had ticket sales of £1,644,013.

A six-screen Odeon, which was due to open in 2018, is expected to be completed this year. It is part of the Riverwalk, on the site of the redeveloped Gates shopping centre

But while the venue spent about £2.95m it only brought in £2.28m.

A report to be considered by councillors on Monday, says while theatre sales have remained strong against the national trend of declining audience numbers, the last two years has seen a drop in sales.

Other pressures include increased competition from other live venues, investment requirements in the building, which is now almost 20 years old, rising costs associated with running the theatre and the impact of austerity.

The report adds: “The theatre faces many challenges over the next few years and there a number of areas that will need to be addresses in both the short and medium term.

“From an operational perspective trends in income and expenditure will need to be reversed and there is a Gala Improvement Group in place to ensure this is achieved.”