Chain hotels and restaurants will kill the West End warns cinema boss in fight against closure

25 February 2025, 15:45 | Updated: 26 February 2025, 08:23

London could lose its beloved West End if chain hotels and restaurants are allowed to replace independent locations, the boss of the under-threat Prince Charles Cinema told LBC.

Hidden in an alleyway just off Leicester Square lies what is perhaps Britain’s most beloved independent cinema.

A staple of the West End, the Prince Charles Cinema opened its doors on Boxing Day 1962 and has gone on to host Oscar winners, beloved directors and thousands of avid film fans.

But now, the Prince Charles Cinema faces what may be its biggest challenge since its doors opened more than 60 years ago.

The cinema’s landlord Zedwell LSQ Ltd, which is owned by billionaire Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital, has requested a six-month “break clause” in its lease, which ends in September and is currently being renegotiated.

The cinema says this break clause would allow Aziz to give it just six months’ notice if Zedwell made the decision to redevelop the site.

Aziz is locally known as “Mr West End” due to his vast property portfolio in central London, which includes the London Trocadero, recently controversially retrofitted into a hotel, and the first-ever YMCA, which is set to close in the coming months following a high court ruling.

“We got a letter back in response from the landlord's lawyer proposing a lease that was a third as long and a rent that was twice as much and introducing this six-month break clause which has only recently become accepted under the law,” Ben Freedman, Managing Director of The Prince Charles Cinema told LBC.

“They (Zedwell) own huge chunks of the West End. We are a fiercely independent business, we get no public subsidy. And so even though the law, we've been advised that the law is in our favour, the law also favours the person offered with the deepest pockets.

“So we felt we had not much option but to go public with our concern, which we did.

“And we were, I don't know, pleasantly surprised. Pleasantly is probably too soft a word, but, it was amazing the response we had.”

The movie-going community has rallied behind Prince Charles in recent weeks, with a petition titled “SaveThePCC” garnering over 150,000 signatures since its launch. “I think we had 100,000 signatures within about 12 hours and an outpouring of support from people because we've been there for a long time, as well as from Westminster Council, Greater London Authority, the BFI, our local MP,” Mr Freedman said.

This huge outpouring of support, with celebrities such as Paul Mescal and Edgar Wright throwing their weight behind the campaign, saw Zedwell offer new terms but still insist on the six-month break clause, Mr Freedman added.

The looming threat of redevelopment is not an issue the Prince Charles is facing alone, with billionaire property magnates buying up swathes of historic West End locations and replacing them with chain hotels and restaurants.

Creatives, who once saw Soho as the greatest place to be in the world, are abandoning the West End at an unprecedented rate due to high rents and brutal landlord practices, Mr Freedman told LBC.

He believes something must be done to protect London’s West End if it is to remain as iconic as it has been for decades.

While Mr Freedman insists Zedwell, whose owner Aziz has a long history of buying London properties for redevelopment, can not be blamed for the changing face of the West End, he has called on Labour to defend the area and its history.

He said: “This is about the homogenization of an area. I started off in the film industry in the mid-80s, and used to walk up and down Wardour Street.

“The film companies were there, there were lots of creatives there and there's no doubt there are many fewer. I mean, I'm not sure how many film companies are still in the West End.

“At some point you have to think about why people come to the West End.

“What makes the West End special and a West End of lots of national stores, national hotel chains and national restaurants is going, is… likely to draw many fewer people.”

Since the risk of the cinema closing came to light, Labour has come under fire for not doing more to protect the location.

Some have even suggested Labour is ignoring the public outcry as to not discourage investment from property developers.

On this, Mr Freedman said: “The Labour Party have a lot on their plate. Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that things happen less because of outright corruption and more just to do with apathy and ignorance and people just not quite knowing what to do.”

Despite the hundreds of thousands of people who have thrown their support behind the Prince Charles, the risk of redevelopment still looms large.

Mr Freedman has one message to film lovers who are looking to support the cinema and other theatres across the UK.

He told LBC: “It's pretty simple, get off your ass and go and watch a film in the cinema and you won't be disappointed.

“I think the industry has spent huge sums of money over the last 20 years and transforming that experience.”

In the coming months, the Prince Charles Cinema will host a number of events alongside film makers, actors and production companies to raise funds and build support as it continues to fight for its life.

Among the celebrities to share their support behind the cinema is Gladiator star Paul Mescal.

He told GQ: “Since I moved to London, it has been a place where I and many other people who love film go to discover new filmmakers, to discover a back catalogue of films from directors we admire.

“It's where I saw La Haine for the first time, it's where I saw In the Mood for Love for the first time.”

While Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan declared: “Film culture in Great Britain is unthinkable without the Prince Charles.”

Writing on its website, the Prince Charles Cinema said: “The Prince Charles Cinema is truly irreplaceable. Nothing like it exists, not just in the West End, London and UK but anywhere in the world from Hollywood, New York, Paris, Rome, Tokyo or even The Little Prince Cinema, Stratford Ontario.

“It would mean losing not just an iconic cultural institution, but also an engine for the economy of the West End that brings people from all over London and the surrounding area to watch films, shop and eat and drink. This would have repercussions way beyond the building itself.

“We can’t let that happen.”