Sutton (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Throwley Yard in Sutton is set to close after the operating company entered administration, raising concerns over local jobs and business impact.
The central Sutton Throwley Yard Cinema, which opened in June 2024 with funding from the council and public donations totaling about £3 million, will close for the last time on Sunday, potentially leaving the local government with nearly £90,000 in unpaid rent.
The last remaining location in the portfolio of the faltering parent business, Really Local Group Ltd., was Throwley Yard, a four-screen theatre off Sutton High Street. As Inside Sutton revealed earlier this year, the corporation has amassed a number of failing theatres.
Throwley Yard was to temporarily close on November 9 for “internal works,” according to an email issued this week to the theater’s followers. A reopening date was not included in the communication. Sutton Council declared the closure to be permanent last night.
Last month, the High Court received an application to wind up the Really Local Group due to unpaid bills.
Several of the Really Local Group’s businesses have already entered liquidation, but Preston Benson, the company’s American-born founder, has recently been actively registering new businesses, possibly to take on some venues in a “phoenix” operation. When Inside Sutton asked Benson to comment on the state of his most recent unsuccessful venture, he did not reply.
Although Sutton Council and council leader Barry “Basher” Lewis did not reply to Inside Sutton prior to publication, this website is aware that Throwley Yard has repeatedly failed to pay its £8,750 monthly fee this year following a six-month rent-free grace period.
The tribunal concluded that the employee had been wrongfully fired after finding Benson’s testimony to be “confused, vague, and inconsistent.” She received £33,000. The employee received no compensation when Peckham Levels, the movie theater company, fell into administration.
Benson may face personal accountability and criminal punishment for non-compliance after losing a tax tribunal case against HMRC this year about a late appeal against a letter requesting security for £165,000 of PAYE and National Insurance contributions.
Throwley Yard in Sutton got an additional £1.9 million from the government’s Future High Streets Fund after the council invested more than £1 million in it. Really Local Group pledged to contribute £100,000, but they never did.
Councillor Barry Lewis, the head of Sutton Council, has a track record of firms failing and leaving millions of pounds in debt. “Basher” Lewis had been fully in favor of the theater, even though opposing councillors had frequently pointed out that the numbers behind the Throwley Yard operation never made up.
Lewis is cited as saying, “I am disappointed that this independent cinema did not work,” on the council’s website. However, Sutton is prospering while other UK high streets are deteriorating.
One creditor, DWD Property and Planning Limited, filed a “Petition to Wind Up” the Really Local Group Ltd., which was published in the official public record The Gazette on October 24 of this year.
Really Local Group (Windy City) Ltd., the Throwley Yard business, is a fully owned subsidiary of Really Local Group Ltd. Whether Windy City will be under administration is still up in the air.
The operator of Throwley Yard, “the Really Local Group, confirmed it will be going into administration,” according to a social media statement made by Sutton Council last night.
They said:
“The council, who owns the building, is now looking for a new tenant.”
They promised to make an announcement “soon.”
In essence, the council spent £1 million in public funds to renovate a semi-derelict property, and for more than a year, the facility has generated little to no revenue.
Really Local Group Ltd.’s financial situation has been steadily declining.
At the beginning of the year, theaters in Reading, Ealing, and Sidcup were in administration; following a meeting of creditors, the Catford theater went into administration in March 2025. The total debt of the four companies was £6.56 million, including £167,000 owing by the in-administration RLG-operated Peckham Levels and £3.5 million owed in inter-company loans to the parent company, Really Local Group Ltd.
The parent company’s balances were more than eliminated by this £3.5 million debt.
Really Local Group’s balance sheet for the year ending in December 2022 was £1.7 million, but this was supported by a £2.7 million investors’ “share premium account,” which shouldn’t be utilized for regular expenses.
A balance sheet of £1.45 million was reported in the most recent Really Local Group accounts to the end of 2023, which were released in March 2025, three months late. However, because the accounts were for a “micro-entity” basis, no underlying statistics were disclosed. Additionally, the accounts existed before the group’s businesses went into administration.
Employees of Really Local Group have been attempting to sell the seats from the Ealing theater on Facebook Marketplace and eBay this week, with prices lowered from £11,000 to £5,000. There is also a list of some high-end video projectors.
Inside Sutton has reached out to the Ealing theater’s management to inquire about how the seats are being sold to support the Really Local Group.
What will Sutton Council do with the Throwley Yard building next?
Sutton Council, which owns the Throwley Yard structure, is presently seeking a new tenant to take over the demesne after the check of the cinema and trades venue due to the driver going into administration. The council plans to advertise details about the new tenant in the coming weeks.
Throwley Yard was preliminarily a derelict structure that the council refurbished with nearly £3 million of public backing as part of its strategy to diversify and revitalize Sutton High Street’s artistic and rest immolations. Despite the check reversal, Council Leader Barry Lewis expressed sanguinity about changing a new business to enthrall the space and emphasized that Sutton’s high road continues to thrive.
The coming step for Sutton Council is laboriously changing a suitable new inhabitant to bring sprightliness and use back to the Throwley Yard structure.
