Shropshire cinema highlights importance of being independent

Cineworld had planned to come to Oswestry as part of a £45million leisure and shopping complex at the Smithfield market on the edge of the town, which would also have included a new Morrisons.

But the development has stalled, with neither company having any comment to make on when – or if – work will continue.

And Ian Garland, who runs the one-screen independent Kinokulture cinema in the town centre, said he doesn't believe there would be enough demand in the local area to support a large cinema. "To do it on a scale where you are employing staff and have a huge wage bill, you need to have enough bums on seats – and to do that, you need to have an area of catchment," he said.

"Our practical area is 35,000 people, which would not support a large cinema complex. It would need to bring people in from further away."

Kinokulture, in Arthur Street, has hosted 164 events over the past year, including films and live broadcasts, and has attracted 11,843 visitors. But Mr Garland, who has been in the public performance industry for more than 40 years, said anything larger than Kinokulture would struggle.

"If we wanted to take Spectre on the week of release, for example, we would have to commit to put it on at least one screen, potentially two screens, and show it four times a day, seven days a week, in the first week of run," he said. "For that, we would get nothing. The only money you can make in that time is on concessions and things.

"When you come into the second week, your percentage of the house increases. That's why you need one big screen with a big capacity, and smaller screens to show the big box office films.

"That's why we work the way we do – we are truly an independent cinema."