At Picturehouse, we love cinemas. Nested in the heart of their neighbourhoods, each of our 26 cinemas are distinct, welcoming, full of personality and run by welcoming and attentive staff. We don't just screen excellent films. We provide places to eat, meet and relax and host a busy calendar of events for everyone to explore.
If you love opera or theatre, we screen it live and direct from stages around the world. If you're all about superhero films, come to one of our state-of-the-art screens and get yourself a large popcorn.
We even screen 35mm and 70mm at special presentations at select Picturehouse cinemas, welcome independent film collectives and are proud hosts of some of the most visionary film festivals around.
Our range of films is broad and carefully curated by a team of passionate programmers spanning quality mainstream, indie, family, foreign language and documentary films.
We believe cinema can change lives and broaden perspectives. Catering to a diverse and inclusive audience is part of our DNA. We know that our communities make us and we champion films made for all ages, backgrounds and walks of life, knowing that the best kind of cinema is made for all.
The first Picturehouse cinema opened in 1989 and we've been running exceptional cinemas ever since. In 2012 Cineworld became our parent company giving us the exciting opportunity to expand even further and thrive in shape-shifting film industry. In the last six years, we have opened six new cinemas, created 100s of new jobs and grown our independent film distribution arm Picturehouse Entertainment beyond what we could have imagined. Cineworld have given us support to grow our business in a meaningful and dynamic way.
From 1998 to present-day, the original spirit of Picturehouse is still at large. Our distinct character runs from the buildings we own, the films we screen, the people we employ to the way we run our business.
Picturehouse and Cineworld are two very unique and separate brands, but both companies share a passion for delivering a fantastic big-screen experience.
We believe film can be a powerful educational tool for all ages. As well as being a valuable cultural experience in itself, watching a film can expand our experiences and understanding and helping us to explore concepts and ideas that are new or challenging to us. Learning by viewing, discussing, and critically engaging with film is an empowering skill and one that is increasingly important for young people.
The Picturehouse Education team work closely with teachers and partner organisations to deliver a diverse and exciting year-round programme at Picturehouse cinemas across the UK. We welcome over 40,000 students each year to our carefully curated cross-curricular screenings and talks for Nursery, Primary, Secondary and SEN/ASN Schools.
Our activity includes events to mark Black History Month, Anti Bullying Week, Holocaust Memorial Day, World Book Day, Refugee Week, and to complement the national curriculum across a variety of subjects including English, Drama, Science, Film Studies, Psychology and Modern Foreign Languages.
Picturehouse has led the way in specially adapted screenings for specific audiences - we were one of the first cinemas to introduce Parents and Baby screenings in 2000. Big Scream enables parents to see the latest cinema releases without having to get a baby sitter and provides an opportunity to share the cinema experience with their baby and meet other new parents in their local community.
We also were the first cinema group to launch Autism Friendly screenings in 2008 (in partnership with the National Autistic Society), ensuring a welcoming and adapted environment for people with autism, sensory sensitivity, learning disabilities and/or additional needs to enjoy a trip to the cinema.
In 2015 we piloted our Dementia-Friendly screenings for people living with dementia, which have grown to become a proud staple of our community offer. In addition over 200 staff have become Dementia Friends as part of the Alzheimers Society's Dementia Friends initiative.
At Picturehouse we are committed to our staff's continual professional development. Through our training programme called Cinelearn, we offer online modules on topics ranging from management and communication, which encourage our staff to enhance their performance and push for future opportunities. We also offer a range of qualifications and apprenticeship programmes throughout the year for all of our cinema staff.
We believe in offering our people the very best range of Staff Perks and have created bespoke packages for both our Hourly Cinema Teams as well as our Salaried Management Teams and Cinema Support Office roles.
Hourly Staff Package
Membership sales bonuses
Double pay on bank holidays
Late night working allowance
24/7 online GPs
Free cinema tickets
Free tickets for guests
Free hot and soft drinks
Food and drink discounts
Staff only screenings
Enhances eye care
Cycle to work scheme
Increased pension contributions
Company sick pay after 1 year
Cineworld discounts and free tickets
Employee Assistance Plan
Career development
Salaried Staff Package
Annual bonus scheme
24/7 online GPs
Company sick pay
Access to enhanced benefits
Free cinema tickets
Free Guest tickets
Free hot and soft drinks
Food and drink discounts
Staff only screenings
Enhanced eye care
Cycle to work scheme
Increased pension contributions
Cineworld discounts and free tickets
Employee Assistance Plan
Career Development & workshops
We do not and will not tolerate modern slavery either within our business itself, or within our supply chain, and take this issue seriously. We expect our supply chain to share the same values.
We have a commitment to manage relationships with our suppliers fairly and to work in accordance with our ethics policy. Steps taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in our supply chains or business include Board and Management training on the issue and the review of statements published by our suppliers regarding modern slavery to ensure robust standards.
We have prepared this statement for the purposes of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Our ongoing charity partner is Refuge. In 2019 we partnered with the longstanding UK charity which supports women and children against domestic violence. Through various fun and thoughtful ways we are committed to raising £50,000 by May 2023 to help the charity change the lives of those needing safety and sanctuary. By reaching our target, we will provide the equivalent of 962 nights in a refuge.
Refuge are pioneers and opened the world's first refuge in Chiswick, West London, in 1971. Since then it has grown to become the country's largest single provider of support to women and children escaping the many forms of violence and abuse. Refuge provides emergency accommodation and community-based outreach services and operates a Freephone 24 Hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, run in partnership with Women's Aid.
We're excited to be supporting Refuge through this ongoing partnership which will change the lives of many for years to come. Joining with us marks their biggest partnership yet, and we will raise the profile of their essential work across our growing family of nationwide cinemas.
For more information on Refuge or to access their services visit refuge.org.uk