North Swindon MP Sees First-Hand Success Of UK Cinema Industry

Local MP Justin Tomlinson has paid a visit to his local Empire cinema at Greenbridge to discuss a range of issues including accessibility and future investment.

Currently, the UK cinema is thriving. 2014 saw the fourth consecutive year where the UK box office topped £1 billion, with almost 158 million individual visits to the cinema. With 77% of the UK population going to the cinema at least once each year, it has been deemed the country’s most popular cultural activity. And it has been a strong year for British films which enjoyed a 26% market share at the UK box office.

But going to the cinema isn’t just an enjoyable activity, it is a strong driver for local economies. After a visit to the cinema, 22% of audiences go for a meal and/or a drink, 14% visit a fast food restaurant and 9% go shopping. Furthermore, UK cinema companies directly employ over 17,500 people and support many thousands more jobs in the wider film industry.

Importantly, in his role as Minister for Disabled People, Justin was keen to hear more about greater accessibility and how cinemas were improving in this area. Digitisation has further improved the cinema-going experience, providing opportunities for greater accessibility through, for example, new subtitling and audio description technologies. Progress has been made in this area as there are now over 1,000 subtitled screenings per week with nearly all major UK releases available in subtitled and audio described formats. Furthermore, Empire now includes weekly autism screenings which cater to create a comfortable environment for those on the autistic spectrum.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: “I love going to the cinema and quite rightly it should be open to everybody. It was great to hear about all the different screenings that are taking place to cater for people with disabilities, ensuring that they are able to do the things that everybody else enjoys.”