The Guardian | OzSeeker

Covid pandemic fuelling growth of film and TV studios in UK

20th January 2021 The Guardian

As cinemas shut and streaming booms, real estate developers are spending millions on Hollywood-style lots The coronavirus pandemic may have shut cinemas and choked off the supply of new films and TV shows, but developers are banking on the streaming boom by pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into building Hollywood-style studios in the UK. This week, Barking and Dagenham council struck a £300m deal to build a studio in east London that is expected to welcome its first TV and film productions as soon as mid-2022. “We will become…

Cineworld closures could “turn leisure parks into disaster movies”

14th October 202014th October 2020 The Guardian

Experts fear firm’s mothballing of UK cinemas will spark a grim chain reaction for surrounding hospitality trade The nationwide closure of Cineworld’s theatres was the disaster movie nobody working in the UK’s battered leisure industry wanted to see. The mothballing of the country’s largest cinema operator not only spells hardship for its 5,500 staff but has set off a chain reaction that threatens the livelihoods of many more working in the neighbouring restaurants that rely on the multiplex trade. On Friday, the billboards outside the 14-screen Cineworld in Feltham, west…

Pub diners. Photo by Tabitha Turner on Unsplash

UK Government launches discount scheme to feed summer dining numbers

3rd August 20204th August 2020 The Guardian

The Eat out to help out scheme launches across the UK on Monday and has been hailed by Rishi Sunak as a lifeline for the beleaguered hospitality industry. It will give diners 50% off food and soft drinks, with a maximum discount of £10, on certain days in August. Here is a guide to the scheme. What’s the deal? If you dine out on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday this month you can save up to half the price of your meal – subject to some terms and conditions. You…