lse cine industry leisure entertainment & refreshments founded 1995 headquarters london united kingdom key people anthony bloom chairman moshe mooky greidinger chief executive revenue 705.8 million 2015 1 operating income 103.1 million 2015 1 net income 81.3 million 2015 1 subsidiaries cineworld cinemas cinema city international picturehouse cinemas digital cinema media 50 % website cineworld.co.uk cineworld group plc is the second largest cinema operator in europe with 2000 screens 2 in 9 countries . 3 the uk operations consist of arthouse chain picturehouse cinemas and multiplex chain cineworld cinemas with 24 and 82 cinemas respectively . all but two cineworld sites are located in the uk with one each in ireland and jersey . cineworld is the second largest cinema operator in the uk with over 800 screens and the owner of the single largest multiplex by screens and customer base in ireland . 4 cineworld glasgow renfrew street is the tallest cinema in the world and the busiest by customer base in the uk . 5 the cineworld site with the greatest number of screens is that located at valley centertainment in sheffield which has 20 . 6 it is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . contents 1 history 2 cinemas 3 membership schemes 4 current locations 5 planned locations 6 former locations 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit cineworld in glasgow scotland . the world s tallest cinema cineworld in middlesbrough england cineworld on fulham road in the royal borough of kensington and chelsea the first cineworld opened in stevenage hertfordshire in july 1996 ; the second in a purpose built location in wakefield yorkshire followed in late 1996 with shrewsbury shropshire following in november 1998 . additional sites were opened at a steady rate throughout the late 90s and early 2000s ; in 2005 cineworld also took over the uk and ireland operations of french cinema company ugc . as part of the merger seven locations were sold to empire cinemas due to uk fair trading law birmingham great park bishop s stortford ealing slough sunderland swindon and wigan . the blackstone group invested in cineworld in 2004 when it was privately owned and remained the largest shareholder in cineworld group plc until it sold its entire remaining 20 % shareholding in november 2010 . 7 post merger cineworld have continued to open new locations ; as of 2015 cineworld have 82 locations in the uk ireland and jersey and have a number of new locations in the pipeline . in august 2013 the guardian revealed that cineworld employs 80 % of its 4 300 staff on zero hour contracts . 8 in october 2013 the chester location was closed due to the landowner wanting to develop the land into a supermarket . this has been the first cineworld to close without being sold and was the first cinema to leave the chain in 8 years . in 2014 cineworld s picturehouse chain was subject to industrial action owing to its refusal to pay the london living wage to its staff . the workforce attracted the support of eric cantona . 9 on 27 february 2014 cineworld completed the takeover of cinema city international n.v. . 10 in what can be seen to be a partial reverse takeover the greidinger family who owned a controlling 54 % stake in cinema city international hold a controlling bloc as the largest shareholders in the newly formed company . 11 cinemas edit each cineworld cinema has between 1 and 20 screens which typically show mainstream general release films . some cineworlds also show broadcasts of opera theatre live music and sports . all cineworlds also have a retail area where food and drink such as popcorn nachos or hotdogs can be purchased candyking pick and mix outlets are available at the majority of cinemas . various cinemas sell ben and jerry s ice cream but many were switched to baskin robbins in late 2013 early 2014 as part of that brand s uk expansion . cafebars and small amusement arcades can also be found at some cinemas . in october 2012 cineworld began to replace some of its cafebars with starbucks coffee outlets after agreeing a deal with the coffee chain . as of september 2013 nine cineworld cinemas have imax screens and eight have d box technology . as new sites open contracts have been signed for installs of both along with further installs of imax screens at older sites . following a recent refit the milton keynes cinema has acquired both a superscreen and a 4dx screen the first in the uk . cineworld intends to roll out further superscreen and 4dx screens to other sites in the future . the majority of cineworld cinemas offer a kids club named movies for juniors which screen selected children s films on saturday & sunday mornings at a discounted rate and daily during school holidays . in june 2011 cineworld began a trial of a premium cinema brand the screening rooms . located next to the cheltenham cinema the screening rooms offers considerably larger leather seating premium food and table service . 12 13 cineworld was the only cinema chain in the united kingdom to operate a strict no food and drink policy 14 on items that have been bought elsewhere 15 but in november 2012 the food policy was changed and now states that neither alcohol nor hot food may be brought onto the premises . 16 in early 2014 cineworld introduced an allocated seating system starting as a trial in selected sites including wembley and rolling out to all their cinemas by the summer . 17 the move was controversial and a twitter campaign was created against this policy . 18 cineworld have responded to the criticism stating that it gives customers peace of mind along with other benefits . 19 membership schemes edit cineworld offers a subscription service using a membership card the unlimited card which provides subscribers with unlimited entrance for a set price per month and currently 10 % off all food and drink . 20 admission to 3d features incurs an additional fee and does not include the cost of 3d glasses . the standard unlimited card does not grant access to cineworld s three west end cinemas chelsea haymarket and fulham road ; these require the purchase of a more expensive west end unlimited card . using the unlimited branding cineworld also published a free monthly magazine entitled unlimited presenting information about upcoming movies the chain will be exhibiting . as of summer 2012 however the unlimited name was removed from the magazine and the subsequently the magazine was simply renamed as cineworld magazine . as of 26 november 2012 unlimited members of 12 months continuous membership will be upgraded to the unlimited premium card which grants 25 % off all food and drink bought in cinema 10 % off starbucks on site only and no uplift fees on 3d films . in addition to the paid unlimited scheme cineworld offer a free membership scheme called mycineworld which allows members a 10 % discount on tickets when booking online and with allocated seating offers the member the best seats in the auditorium when booking in advance . current locations edit site screens origin notes aberdeen queens links 9 ugc aberdeen union square 10 cineworld aldershot 7 cineworld d box ashford 12 cineworld ashton under lyne 14 cineworld imax basildon 18 empire 6 studio screens 1 impact screen 1 imax screen . purchased from empire cinemas in july 2016 started operation under cineworld august 12 2016 . 21 bedford 6 ugc birmingham broad street 12 ugc imax 4dx currently under construction opening october 2016 birmingham nec 11 cineworld imax starbucks coffee baskin robbins boldon tyne and wear 11 ugc starbucks coffee bolton 15 ugc starbucks coffee bradford 16 cineworld baskin robbins pix n mix braintree 12 cineworld brighton 8 ugc bristol 12 cineworld bromley 4 empire purchased from empire cinemas in july 2016 started operation under cineworld august 12 2016 . broughton 11 cineworld imax starbucks coffee burton upon trent 9 cineworld bury st edmunds 8 cineworld cardiff 15 ugc castleford 14 cineworld d box imax cheltenham 11 cineworld imax the screening rooms chesterfield 10 cineworld chichester 10 cineworld imax crawley 15 ugc d box imax starbucks coffee superscreen and 4dx under construction didcot 5 cineworld didsbury 11 ugc d box dublin 17 ugc imax baskin robbins dundee 9 ugc baskin robbins eastbourne 6 ugc edinburgh 13 ugc imax starbucks coffee falkirk 12 cineworld starbucks coffee glasgow imax at gsc 1 cineworld imax starbucks coffee glasgow parkhead 7 ugc glasgow renfrew street 18 ugc d box glasgow silverburn centre 14 cineworld superscreen starbucks coffee baskin robbins opened 26 june 2015 gloucester 10 cineworld hanley staffordshire 9 cineworld harlow 6 ugc haverhill 5 cineworld hemel hempstead 17 empire 1 imax 2 impact 1 impact blue 1 impact luxury currently under construction purchased from empire cinemas in july 2016 started operation under cineworld august 12 2016 . high wycombe 12 cineworld hinckley 5 cineworld baskin robbins hull 9 ugc huntingdon 10 cineworld ipswich 11 ugc imax starbucks coffee isle of wight 11 cineworld jersey 10 cineworld leigh 7 cineworld liverpool 8 ugc llandudno 9 cineworld london bexleyheath 9 cineworld london chelsea 4 ugc london enfield 15 ugc imax starbucks coffee london feltham 14 cineworld baskin robbins pick & mix d box london fulham road 6 ugc london haymarket 3 ugc london ilford 11 cineworld london leicester square 9 empire purchased from empire cinemas in july 2016 started operation under cineworld august 12 2016 . london the o2 greenwich 11 vue d box sky superscreen london wandsworth 14 cineworld london wembley 9 cineworld d box starbucks coffee london west india quay 10 ugc london wood green 12 cineworld loughborough 8 cineworld starbucks coffee luton 11 cineworld middlesbrough 11 ugc d box milton keynes 16 cineworld 4dx starbucks coffee superscreen murton dalton park 7 cineworld newport friars walk 8 cineworld baskin robbins newport spytty park 13 ugc starbucks coffee northampton 9 ugc starbucks coffee baskin robbins nottingham 14 warnervillage imax poole empire purchased from empire cinemas in july 2016 started operation under cineworld august 12 2016 . rugby 9 cineworld runcorn 9 cineworld sheffield 20 ugc imax starbucks coffee 4dx baskin robbins vip . shrewsbury 8 cineworld solihull 9 cineworld southampton 5 ugc st helens 11 cineworld st neots 6 cineworld stevenage 16 cineworld baskin robbins pick and mix starbucks coffee imax and 4dx stockport 10 ugc strood rochester 9 ugc swindon shaw ridge 7 ugc swindon regent circus 6 cineworld telford 11 cineworld imax d box starbucks coffee wakefield 9 cineworld weymouth 9 cineworld whiteley 9 cineworld baskin robbins witney 5 cineworld wolverhampton 14 cineworld yate 6 cineworld yeovil 10 cineworld baskin robbins planned locations edit site screens notes extra notes bracknell 12 inc. imax opening spring 2017 as part of the lexicon . 22 ely cambridgeshire 6 as part of ely leisure village opening 2016 . harlow harvey centre 6 as part of harvey centre plans opening 2016 . keighley 8 opening 2016 . macclesfield 9 opening 2016 . plymouth 12 inc. imax opening mid 2018 ruislip 11 opening 2017 . trowbridge 8 opening 2016 however work appears to have stopped and the land is back on the market . 23 watford 9 inc. imax opening may 2017 . leeds white rose centre 11 inc. imax opening date unknown colchester 12 inc. imax imax and 4dx . part of northern gateway leisure park . opening 2018 speke new mersey retail park 11 opening autumn 2017 part of retail park expansion plans former locations edit site screens origin notes birmingham arcadian 4 ugc permanently closed in 2004 . birmingham great park 13 ugc sold to empire cinemas in 2005 . bishop s stortford 6 cineworld sold to empire cinemas in 2005 . cambridge 9 cineworld sold to light cinemas following competition commission ruling