Omniplex Cinemas
| Industry | Cinemas |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Paul Anderson |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
|
Number of locations
|
24 |
|
Key people
|
Mark Anderson, Paul Anderson jnr |
| Owner | Paul Anderson and family |
| Website | www |
Omniplex Cinemas is a cinema chain in Ireland set up in 1991 and operated by Paul Anderson. It operates cinemas throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland. Omniplex has started a €14.5m investment and renovation in a number of its cinemas including the rolling out across Ireland of its large screen format OmniplexMAXX.[1]
Omniplex owns 200 screens and 24 cinemas, with 12 in the Republic of Ireland and 12 cinemas in Northern Ireland.
Contents
Company History
The Anderson family have a long history in the film and cinema business dating back to 1948 when Kevin Anderson (Paul Anderson's father now retired) first started a film distribution business. The first films acquired were The Hills of Donegal and The Rose of Tralee, which were distributed to cinemas across Ireland.
The first cinema was purchased in Lucan in 1955, where company Chairman and Managing Director Paul Anderson started working at 8 years old before officially entering the business at 18.
The Andersons continued to acquire, redevelop and sell cinemas across Ireland over the subsequent decades. Their biggest acquisition came when they bought the Rank Cinemas portfolio in 1988, which included Dublin's flagship Savoy cinema and The Screen cinema, which the Andersons jointly owned as part of the Dublin Cinema Group until 2013.
The origins of Omniplex lie with the evolution of multiplex cinemas in the early 1990s. The first cinema to be branded an Omniplex was in Santry (now IMC). Since then Omniplex have expanded in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, there are 23 Omniplex cinemas currently operating. This includes the 13 screen Cork Omniplex which opened in 2005 and the Rathmines Omniplex which completed in 2014 following a 15 year campaign to open cinemas in The Swan SC, which the Andersons acquired in 1999.
The company announced the acquisition of the Quayside cinema in Balbriggan, which was bought from NAMA and refurbished at a cost of €1.5m.[2]
As well as screening films Omniplex cinemas also show live events that are broadcast from around the world. This includes weekly live show from New York's Met Opera, The Bolshoi Ballet and music concerts.
Omniplex are reported to sell 5.5m cinema tickets per year.[3]
Acquiring of the Gaiety Cinema Group
It May 2015 it was announced that Omniplex had bought the Gaiety Cinema Group (GCG) in an €8m deal. GCG owned two cinemas in Sligo and Arklow, in the Bridgewater Shopping Centre[4][5]
OmniplexMAXX
The OmniplexMAXX is the next generation of giant format cinemas screens being rolled out across Omniplex’s cinemas. This includes the OmniplexMAXX in Antrim which, at 23 metres wide, is Ireland’s widest cinema screen. Other OmniplexMAXX screens have opening in Mahon, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Rathmines, which opened in 2014 with the Irish premier or The Inbetweeners 2.[6] New OmniplexMAXX screens are planned in Dundonald and Dundalk. The auditoriums include custom-designed leather reclining armchairs as standard, HD digital projection and MasterImage 3D. OmniplexMAXX will also introduce next generation audio format to deliver an immersive 3D sound experience using a three-dimensional Barco Auro 11.1 channel/speaker layout, the only cinema company in Ireland with access to this sound system.
Private Cinema - Dublin
In August 2015 Omniplex opened the first digital private screen in Dublin in their Rathmines cinema. Dubbed the 'secret screen' it is not part of the cinema's public schedule and is only available for private hire. Its use is a closely guarded company secret.[7]
Omniparks
In 2015 Omniplex launched OmniPark, the new leisure park brand covering three of the parks that company owns, on which it has cinemas. Omniparks are located in Dundonald, Craigavon and Bangor.[8]
Controversies
In 2015 Omniplex was outmaneuvered by rival cinema chain Irish Multiplex Cinemas in Omagh, Northern Ireland. Omniplex had previously failed in a bid to buy the town's existing cinema from the Richardson family. Omniplex then decided to pursue a cinema development on the former Desmond’s Factory on the Kevlin Road, which would be in competition with the existing cinema. However, whilst Omniplex was delayed by the planning process Irish Multiplex Cinemas subsequently stepped in and agreed a deal to buy the existing Omagh Cinema, from the Richardson family, before announcing an immediate €2m renovation of the cinema.[9]
In 2014 Wexford Omniplex was charged under the EC (Hygiene Foodstuff) Regulations of 2006 with failing to notify the HSE of the operation of a food business at the Omniplex Cinema in Strandfield, Drinagh. According to the HSA report, the business pleaded guilty to the offence and was convicted and fined €1,000 with costs of €800 and expenses of €250.[10]
In 2012 the Circuit Civil Court, heard a case of unfair dismissal brought by Evenchen Bleakley following her sacking sacked 10 days after she told the company that she was pregnant.[11][12]
The Andersons were formerly partners of the Wards, owners of Irish Multiplex Cinemas in the Ward Anderson cinemas empire. However, two families fell out after the Andersons signed a deal to build a cinema on the Stephen's Green shopping centre, without notifying, or involving the Ward's in the new cinema. The new cinema would have been in direct competition with their jointly owned cinemas in Dublin city centre, The Savoy, and The Screen.[13] This resulted in a long-running legal struggle that led to a major case in Four Courts in which the The Ward and Anderson families eventually agreed to split their cinema empire in January 2013.[14][15][16][17]
The agreement to divide the assets allocated 23 cinemas to the Anderson family including the 13-screen Cork Omniplex and 22 other cinemas in their Omniplex Cinemas Group. The Ward family were allocated 12 cinemas in their Irish Multiplex Cinemas group, including the Savoy and Screen cinemas in Dublin.
Paul Ward and Paul Anderson, who are the sons of the co-founders of the Ward Anderson Group, Leo Ward and Kevin Anderson, operate each of the cinema chains separately.[18]
Cinema locations
Republic of Ireland
| Location | No. of screens | Year opened |
|---|---|---|
| Arklow | 9 | Acquired 2015 |
| Balbriggan | 5 | Acquired 2013 |
| Carlow | 5 | 2015 |
| Cork | 13 | 2005 |
| Rathmines, Dublin | 8 | 2014 |
| Dundalk | 9 | 2015 |
| Limerick | 12 | 1996 |
| Longford | 4 | 1998 |
| Sligo | 10 | Acquired 2015 |
| Tralee | 8 | 2007 |
| Waterford | 5 | Reopened 2014 |
| Wexford | 8 | 2008 |
Northern Ireland
| Location | No. of screens | Year opened |
|---|---|---|
| Antrim | 10 | 2011 |
| Armagh | 4 | 2009 |
| Bangor | 7 | 1994 |
| Kennedy Centre, Belfast | 8 | 2010 |
| Carrickfergus | 6 | 2000 |
| Derry | 7 | 1993 |
| Craigavon | 8 | 2015 |
| Dundonald, Belfast | 8 | 2008 |
| Dungannon, Tyrone | 6 | 2016 |
| Larne | 8 | 2010 |
| Lisburn | 14 | 1997 |
| Newry | 10 | 1999 |
References
- ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/retail-and-services/construction-begins-on-5-million-swan-cinema-expansion-in-rathmines-1.1502718
- ↑ http://www.omniplex.ie/cinema/press/omniplex-cinemas-in-1.5m-deal-for-ballbriggan-cinema
- ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/retail-and-services/construction-begins-on-5-million-swan-cinema-expansion-in-rathmines-1.1502718
- ↑ http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/omniplex-buys-8m-rival-chain-gaiety-cinema-group-31248432.html
- ↑ https://www.omniplex.ie/explore/press/omniplex-completes-acquisition-of-gcg
- ↑ http://www.omniplexmaxx.ie/
- ↑ http://thedailyedge.thejournal.ie/straight-outta-compton-private-cinema-2281101-Aug2015/?utm_source=shortlink
- ↑ http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/omniplex-group-considers-movies-for-bangor-and-omagh-31478176.html
- ↑ http://ulsterherald.com/2015/12/20/omniplex-cinema-still-committed-to-5m-omagh-project/.
- ↑ http://www.wexfordpeople.ie/news/cinema-convicted-of-food-regulation-breach-30501693.html
- ↑ http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/woman-fails-to-prove-cinema-chain-sacked-her-over-pregnancy-26879301.html
- ↑ http://www.herald.ie/news/mum-loses-appeal-on-pregnancy-sacking-28013604.html
- ↑ http://www.iftn.ie/rep_bodies/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4282840&tpl=archnews&force=1
- ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/bitter-family-dispute-worthy-of-a-box-office-blockbuster-1.549419
- ↑ http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/mediation-urged-in-bitter-row-between-cinema-owners-213038.html
- ↑ http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/final-cut-legal-battle-for-irish-cinemas-ends-in-a-draw-29023326.html
- ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/news/final-scene-in-cinema-dynasty-feud-ends-in-break-up-1.966622
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
