Cineworld: Landmark Glasgow cinema to close in September
A Cineworld spokesperson told the BBC: "Following the landlord's recent decision, Cineworld Glasgow Renfrew Street will close on 28 September, 2025. "As we say goodbye to Renfrew Street, Cineworld Silverburn is undergoing its most ambitious transformation yet – with major investment bringing a 4DX screen and a full upgrade of every 2D auditorium to luxury recliner seating."The letter to staff from management said that workers could be offered roles at venues within the chain. A consultation process is due to last until 30 September. Cineworld closed another Glasgow cinema, in Parkhead, last year as it grappled with financial problems. When the Renfrew Street building opened in 2001, under the branding of UGC, it was claimed to be the world's tallest cinema. Cineworld took over UGC's operations in 2005.The building was acquired earlier this year by Clydebankbridge Ltd, a subsidiary of Irish cinema chain Omniplex.Ominiplex moved into Scotland for the first time last year when it took over the former Empire cinema site in Clydebank.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
a few seconds ago
- Times
British horse racing to go on strike over betting tax rise
British racing will take the unprecedented step of going on strike next month, cancelling all meets for a day in protest at the proposed rise to betting tax. Four events due to be staged on September 10 at Carlisle, Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, and Kempton and Lingfield Park in Surrey are to be scrapped. The first voluntary racing blackout in the sport's modern history is expected to cost the industry about £700,000. The chosen day is just before the start of the St Leger Festival at Doncaster, which prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria attended last year. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is campaigning against the Treasury's proposal to raise the 15 per cent tax paid by bookmakers on profits from racing and other sports bets placed in the UK to 21 per cent — the same level due on online slot and casino games. The sport is heavily dependent on the separate horseracing betting levy of 10 per cent paid by bookmakers on annual gross profits on racing wagers, which amounted to £108 million paid back into the industry in 2024-25. Industry bosses have warned that the government reforms could have catastrophic consequences. Jim Mullen, the chief executive of the Jockey Club, which owns the Kempton and Carlisle racecourses, warned the tax rise would cause 'irreparable damage that threatens a sport the nation is, and should be, proud of'. Industry experts say bookmakers are likely to seek to offset the impact of a tax hike by increasing prices, cutting bonuses and reducing advertising and marketing budgets while further promoting online gaming, which has lower overheads and fixed margins. Economic analysis commissioned by the BHA estimated the proposed 21 per cent tax rate would cause a £330 million loss in revenue to the industry in its first five years and put 2,752 jobs at risk in the first year alone. The nation's second-largest spectator sport is worth £4.1 billion to the UK economy, supports 85,000 jobs, and is attended by almost five million people a year. • Plan for betting tax will kill racing, warn sport's chiefs Gordon Brown, the former prime minister, has backed a separate plan proposed by the Institute for Public Policy Research to raise some betting taxes, including the duty on online casinos, from 21 per cent to 50 per cent. He said the moves would raise £3.2 billion a year, which could be used to lift welfare restrictions such as the two-child benefits cap. The collective decision to stop racing on September 10 is recognition of what the sport's differing factions regard as an existential threat. Race meetings in Britain usually take place on 363 days a year, with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the exceptions. Although meetings have regularly been rescheduled due to adverse weather, and crises such as the equine virus outbreak and the Covid-19 pandemic have caused racing to be suspended in the past, this will be the first time in history the sport has decided to strike. The races will be rescheduled but the action, forecast to cost £500,000 in media rights and £200,000 in levy income, is designed to underline to the government the importance of betting revenue to the sport's health. Owners, trainers and jockeys will instead join racing leaders and MPs for a campaign event in Westminster. Mullen said: 'Our sport has come together today, and by cancelling racing fixtures, we hope the government will take a moment to reflect on the harm this tax will cause to a sport in which our country leads in so many ways.' Martin Cruddace, chief executive of Arena Racing Company, which owns Lingfield and Uttoxeter racecourses, described the threat of the tax as 'existential' to the sport. 'Unlike online casino games, British horseracing makes an enormous contribution to society and employment, has vastly different rates of gambling-related harm and is not available every ten seconds, 24 hours a day,' he said. 'We have always been taxed and regulated differently, and it is imperative for our future that we continue to be so. If the government wants Britain to be a world leader in online [casinos] and a world pauper in a sport at the heart of its culture, then tax harmonisation will achieve that aim.' • My audience with Frankel — king of racehorses Brant Dunshea, chief executive of the BHA, said: 'British racing is already in a precarious financial position and research has shown that a tax rise on racing could be catastrophic for the sport and the thousands of jobs that rely on it in towns and communities across the country. 'We haven't taken this decision lightly but in doing so we are urging the government to rethink this tax proposal to protect the future of our sport which is a cherished part of Britain's heritage and culture. 'Our message to government is clear: axe the racing tax and back British racing.' The Treasury argued in a consultation paper in April that a single duty would 'provide tax certainty and increase simplification for remote gambling'.
BBC News
a few seconds ago
- BBC News
Christchurch wins e-scooter trial after six-year wait
A town has been included in an e-scooter trial scheme after a six-year in Dorset initially received electric bicycles but not scooters under a 2019 agreement covering the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council Beryl previously said Bournemouth and Poole were chosen as good scooter test areas by the council and Department for Transport (DfT) because of their hilly terrain.E-bikes and e-scooters will be available for instant hire across the council area until 2028. BCP Council said demand for the vehicles had "far exceeded expectations".The authority is one of more than 50 areas to have conducted scooter trials to help DfT assess whether to legalise their use on public in Dorset, Beryl e-scooters are also available in Weymouth, Portland and the company's e-bike hire scheme in Wimborne, Colehill, West Parley, West Moors and Ferndown came to an end in February, six months after launch, due to low Berkhauer, operations manager with Christchurch Business Improvement District, said: "The more visitors that can be encouraged to use these convenient and accessible forms of travelling to our town centre, the better."Riders can unlock and rent a scooter through the Beryl app and must hold a valid provisional or full UK driving licence, which will be verified before the scooter is hired. You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Telegraph
a few seconds ago
- Telegraph
‘Eco-hypocrite' Miliband refuses to reveal his number of domestic flights
Ed Miliband has been branded an eco 'hypocrite' after refusing to reveal how many domestic flights he has taken. Ministers insisted the Energy Secretary would not disclose any details about his air travel within the UK since he entered office last July. Claire Coutinho, shadow energy secretary, said the refusal represented 'one rule for him and another for everyone else' given that the Left-wing frontbencher has been a vociferous opponent of domestic air travel. Labour has also forced through significant increases to air passenger duty that have added hundreds of pounds to some family holidays. The accusation came after a Conservative MP challenged the Energy Secretary to publish details of the internal UK flights he has taken since the last election. Answering on Mr Miliband's behalf, Michael Shanks, the energy minister, replied: 'Details of internal domestic flights are not published.' Claire Coutinho, the Tory shadow energy secretary, said: 'As Ed Miliband sticks a holiday tax of up to £400 on a family of four, it does seem the height of hypocrisy that he won't reveal his own flights, which are funded by the taxpayer. 'People expect transparency and fairness from their politicians, but when it comes to the most stringent net zero costs, it's one rule for him and another for everyone else.' Mr Miliband's stance is in line with other Whitehall departments, which also do not release details of ministers' domestic flights. The Government said it was 'the practice of successive administrations', including Tory ones, not to 'publish granular information' about their movements. Mr Miliband, who is in charge of net zero policies, has previously said Britons should cut down on such flights 'as much as we possibly can'. But he was embarrassed earlier this year when it emerged his department is spending more on internal flights under his watch than the Tories. Figures released in April revealed it spent £44,000 on domestic flights for ministers and officials between July and December last year. That was more than the £40,000 spent in the first half of 2024 by the Tories, when Ms Coutinho was in charge of the net zero ministry. Mr Miliband has previously suggested that the Government should encourage ordinary voters to take trains and buses rather than flying. Asked when he was shadow business secretary whether domestic flights should be banned, he said: 'Not completely, but as much as we possibly can.' Speaking to the BBC in 2021, he added: 'Fairness and giving people alternatives is an absolutely key part of making this transition happen.' Labour repeatedly criticised the Conservatives for taking flights and pledged before the election to clamp down on ministers' use of jets. But since taking office, Mr Miliband has been heavily criticised for jet-setting, which has seen him spend 10 times more on foreign trips than Ms Coutinho. The Energy Secretary spent £62,712 on overseas travel in his first six months in office, according to Taxpayers' Alliance analysis, In contrast, his Tory predecessor spent just £6,155 during her first half-year in the role.
