Sutton (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Throwley Yard Cinema in Sutton has closed just 18 months after opening, despite nearly £3m in council funding and public grants, marking a swift and costly shutdown.
The last remaining location in the portfolio of the faltering Really Local Group Ltd., which has fallen apart due to a mountain of unpaid bills, was the four-screen movie theatre off Sutton High Street.
It is estimated that the failing movie theater operators may owe Sutton Council up to £90,000 in overdue rent.
Sutton is only the most recent in a string of subsidised venues that Really Local Group has shuttered. Earlier this year, they owed Lewisham Council £387,000 when they liquidated their Catford cinema.
Last Wednesday, the parent company of the movie theater officially entered administration, avoiding a High Court winding-up order from one of their creditors.
According to numerous reports, Really Local Group owes money to long-suffering and diligent employees, many of whom claim to have worked for extended periods of time without receiving compensation.
Sutton Council was able to release a statement prior to Throwley Yard’s closure, stating that they anticipated announcing a new tenant shortly.
However, Barry “Basher” Lewis, the leader of the Liberal Democrat-controlled council and a fervent supporter of Really Local Group and its American entrepreneur founder, Preston Benson, has remained silent about the venue’s future and has not responded to a number of inquiries about protecting local authority funds from any potential “phoenix” operation that Benson might attempt to establish at Throwley Yard and his other failed theatres in and around London.
According to Benson, he has paid back £400,000 to creditors in the last year, including staff members and movie distributors.
A source who reportedly worked with Benson stated, “I think he believed his own hype,” in a report about his London-wide operation that surfaced following Inside Sutton’s revelation of Throwley Yard’s poor financial situation.
“I don’t think he was planning to scam anyone. I just don’t think he was planning at all.”
The study also detailed how distributors withheld new releases due to outstanding obligations, preventing Throwley Yard from screening some of the nation’s most popular movies. According to London Centric,
“last Christmas staff spent their time turning away families coming to see animated blockbuster Moana 2 because Disney hadn’t been paid.”
Benson was quoted as saying:
“I’ve been working non-stop for almost a year to get investment into the business to get to a level where we can repay these historic debts. We’re doing our best.”
That was before he closed Throwley Yard and took Really Local Group into administration. Benson failed to respond to Inside Sutton’s questions.
As we broke the news of Throwley Yard’s closure, Sutton Council managed to provide a platitudinous statement:
“The council and government investment was used for the refurbishment of Throwley Yard which had been vacant since 2013.”
The Council now has a fully refurbished venue ready to re-let.
The council entered into an agreement for lease with the Really Local Group in September 2023 and the refurbishment of the space commenced. The closures of other sites took place after this. Peckham Levels went into administration in September 2024; and the Ealing Project and Catford Mews entered administration in October 2024.”
What has been the local reaction from staff and community groups?
The closure of Throwley Yard cinema in Sutton has sparked disappointment and frustration among staff and original community groups. Staff members reported delays in pay envelope payments and expressed sadness over the unforeseen end of their employment and the cinema’s pledge as an artistic venue in the high road. overdue contractors also raised enterprises about outstanding pretenses .
Community groups, who had supported and ate the cinema as part of sweats to revitalize Sutton High Street, lamented the loss of a valued artistic and social space that offered independent flicks and community events.
Some community voices and former cinema patrons blamed the fiscal operation of the cinema’s driver, Really Local Group, and questioned the council’s oversight and support strategies.