2003 ; 13 years ago 2003 05 founder timothy richards ceo alan mcnair cfo headquarters london united kingdom owner omers alberta investment management corporation website www.myvue.com vue entertainment otherwise known as vue cinemas and stylised as vue formerly sbc international cinemas is a cinema company operating in the united kingdom and republic of ireland . the company was formed in may 2003 by the acquisition of warner village cinemas by sbc and the subsequent rebranding of the business as vue . as of 2013 the company has 80 cinemas in the uk making it the third largest cinema chain in the country with 755 screens . 1 the company s flagship site is vue west end the former warner village cinema in leicester square . the company expanded through a number of acquisitions including the ster century chain apollo cinemas and multikino . in june 2006 vue s executive team completed a management buy out with the backing of bank of scotland corporate 2 taking a 51 % stake in the business and buying the four remaining warner village sites it had been operating under contract from village roadshow . the company was bought by the private equity firm doughty hanson & co in 2010 . 3 in june 2013 doughty hanson & co announced the sale of the company to the canadian firms omers and alberta investment management corporation for 935 million . 4 contents 1 inside vue magazine 2 marketing 3 history 4 facilities 5 venues 5.1 united kingdom 5.2 republic of ireland 6 references 7 external links inside vue magazine edit when vue opened the company began publishing a free monthly magazine based upon reviews and listings of films . the magazine is issued on the first friday of every month . the magazine s last publishing was issued in april 2016 . marketing edit from october 2013 to late august 2016 the company s downloadable free app available off android s google play store and apple inc. s apple store was available for use . the features included full film information and show times and was linked to the cinema s website see external links below . from september 2016 the app was shutdown due to severe technical issues . booking and film info is now available on the brand new website . 5 history edit vue at cardigan fields in leeds the company was formed in may 2003 when sbc bought warner village cinemas from warner bros. for 250 million . at the time sbc owned four cinemas and warner village cinemas owned 36 . 6 in april 2005 the chain acquired the ster century chain from aurora entertainment ; this included the highest grossing cinema in the uk or ireland at liffey valley shopping centre in dublin ireland . 7 on 20 june 2006 vue s executive team completed a management buy out of the company with the backing of bank of scotland corporate ; the management team retaining a 51 % stake . 2 also as part of the buy out vue took full ownership of the four village sites it had been operating under contract from village roadshow . the private equity firm doughty hanson & co acquired vue in 2010 . 3 vue bought the company apollo in 2012 retaining 14 new sites across the uk making it the third largest cinema company in the uk behind odeon and cineworld . 8 by 2013 it was reported that vue had 143 cinemas . 9 in may 2013 vue entertainment acquired multikino the polish cinema operator owning 30 cinemas with almost 250 screens in poland and baltic countries . 10 in june 2013 doughty hanson & co announced it had sold vue to the canadian pension fund omers and alberta investment management corporation for 935 million . 4 in november 2014 vue international acquired the space cinema it . 11 in 2015 vue international vue acquired jt bioscopen jt the second largest cinema chain in the netherlands bringing vue s number of sites to over 200 . 12 in november 2015 vue changed its slogan from the future of cinema to big screen entertainment due to new lease funding . also around this time vue cheshire oaks & leeds were upgraded to be the first two cinemas to have imax screens . as of 2016 vue has given out promotional t shirts to its staff to advertise certain upcoming films such as x men apocalypse independence day resurgence and many more . over the past few years vue has also been host to andre rieu s maastricht concerts . according to the staff it is by far the most popular live annual event in history . the 2016 concert which is three hours long and is streamed from maastricht s outdoor arena will be held on saturday 23 july from 7.00 pm and sunday 24 july from 3.00 pm . the christmas concert inc. q & a with andre is on saturday 19 november from 5.00 pm . 13 on 25 july 2016 vue announced that for one night only they would show the latest animated batman film batman the killing joke . tickets for the showing are available via the website . 14 at the company s north wales branch in rhyl the staff organise special festive parties every december as of 2015 . in 2016 the staff plan to sell christmassy jumpers and have another staff party in early december . facilities edit vue at the oracle in reading vue s multiplexes vary from 4 to 30 screens . each cinema is run by a team consisting of one general manager assisted by between two and five other members of the management team . the general manager has general control of the running of the cinema at site level while assisted by the other members of the management team . team leaders act as duty managers and are responsible for the operational running of a cinema on a shift basis . customer assistants serve guests throughout the cinema and report to the management team . all cinemas have a dedicated projection team responsible for the running of the box and the maintenance of the projection and sound equipment . the technical manager has overall responsibility supported by a senior projectionist . they are accompanied by a team of two to four full or part time projection staff some of which can also share duties with the standard operation of the cinema . however all vue sites are now fully digital and therefore ran by the management team or technical manager . vue in swansea vue completed the rollout of the vista entertainment solutions integrated point of sale software to every site in 2006 . 15 prior to this the majority of vue cinemas ran the wabits ticketing system developed in house in london by warner bros. international cinemas . this was an internal system used in all former warner village cinemas until 2007 when the division responsible for development was closed owing to the sale of the remaining joint venture cinema chains . wabtis continues to be used in japan by warner mycal cinemas who now own the rights to the system . the new system enables customers to buy tickets at any retail point in the cinema as well as online through the company website . vue were the first major cinema operator in the uk to implement this single point of sale concept . some cinemas have no dedicated box office meaning that all transactions are carried out at retail stands these include aberdeen accrington birkenhead blackburn bury the rock camberley cardiff carmarthen carlisle cwmbran eastleigh hull princes quay lancaster the leeds light hartlepool merthyr tydfil harrow northampton and swansea . in 2015 vue cinemas opened in farnborough 16 and planning permission has been approved for an eight screen venue on elizabeth street and westcott way in corby . 17 vue cinema built the first uk s esports arena in cooperation with gfinity costing 350 000 . 18 the fulham broadway cinema was converted into a 600 seat gfinity arena to host e gaming events 19 venues edit united kingdom edit location screens sound seats aberdeen 7 digital dolby surround sound 1 531 accrington 4 digital dolby surround sound 3d 849 altrincham 6 digital dolby surround sound 897 barrow 6 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 951 basingstoke festival place 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d 2 166 bicester 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 854 birkenhead 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 756 birmingham 30 digital dolby surround sound 3d 5 128 blackburn 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 635 bolton 12 digital dolby surround sound 3d vuextreme 2 477 bristol cribbs causeway 12 digital dolby surround sound 3d vuextreme 2 470 bristol longwell green 13 digital dolby surround sound 3d 2 686 bury the rock 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d vuextreme 4k 1 690 camberley 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 839 cambridge 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 724 cardiff 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 600 carlisle 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 647 carmarthen 6 digital dolby surround sound 3d 900 cheshire oaks 16 digital dolby surround sound 3d imax 3 390 cleveleys 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 066 cramlington 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d vuextreme croydon grant s 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 778 croydon purley way 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 996 cwmbran 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 179 dagenham 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 724 doncaster 11 digital dolby surround sound 1 386 eastleigh 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 578 edinburgh ocean terminal 12 digital dolby surround sound 3d 2 602 edinburgh omni centre 12 digital dolby surround sound 3d 2 188 exeter 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 044 farnborough 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 921 gateshead trinity square 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d glasgow fort 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 900 halifax 9 digital dolby surround sound 1 400 hamilton 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 478 hartlepool 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 773 hull princes quay 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 694 inverness 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 758 lancaster 6 digital dolby surround sound 3d 1 574 leamington spa 6 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 898 leeds kirkstall road 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k imax 1 886 leeds the light 14 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 834 leicester 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 391 livingston 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 645 london acton 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 332 london finchley road o2 centre 12 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 710 london fulham broadway 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 252 london harrow 12 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 808 london islington 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d vuextreme 1 753 london north finchley 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 102 london piccadilly 5 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 481 london shepherd s bush 12 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 557 london leicester square 9 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 471 london westfield london 17 digital dolby surround sound 3d vuextreme 4k 3 000 london westfield stratford city 20 digital dolby surround sound 3d vuextreme 2 600 london wood green 6 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 742 manchester lowry 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 087 merthyr tydfil 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 212 newbury 7 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 973 newcastle under lyme 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 976 northampton 10 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 2 547 norwich 8 digital dolby surround sound 3d 4k 1 800