Light House cinema will shine once again with £2 million transformation as new operator is revealed

The curtain is set to rise once again at the city centre cinema within the Grade II-listed Chubb Buildings, as new images have been unveiled showing how it could look.

Wolverhampton Council announced today that the venue will be run by PDJ Management Ltd (PDJ), which operates several other cinemas in England.

It comes after the Light House cinema was forced to close in November last year, after more than three decades in the city, due to “unsustainable” levels of debt.

Thousands of people signed a petition to protest against its closure, which was seen as a major blow to the city centre.

But now more than a year later, PDJ has been selected as the successful bidder from a group of eight independent operators and creative organisations which submitted formal expressions of interest in the Fryer Street venue.

It has put forward a proposal to convert the 6,625sqft council-owned space from an out-dated two-screen venue to a newly refurbished four-screen cinema.

Together with the council, it will be making a £2 million joint investment in the critical refurbishment and fit-out programme and entering into a 30-year lease.

The company says it wants to provide a "luxury yet affordable venue" which will be aimed at everyone from families and students to seniors.

It is predicted the cinema will attract up to 130,000 visitors a year to the city centre and boost the local economy by half-a-million-pounds annually, with three permanent and 20 to 25 part-time jobs created.

The council is also working closely on the scheme with Chubb Buildings landlord, Midlands Industrial Association (MIA), which oversees a range of businesses already within the buildings.

Councillor Stephen Simkins, Wolverhampton Council's leader, said: “We had an impressive response to our call=ut for expressions of interest, which shows there is a strong appetite for leisure opportunities in our city centre.

“I am delighted to announce PDJ as the preferred operator – they are suitably qualified cinema and entertainment experts, and it has been exciting to learn about their vision for the space and their confidence in our city.

“We were particularly impressed with PDJ’s commercial and social value track record which they have sustained in their other venues over a significant period of time – and by their confidence that the new cinema offering will provide accessible and ‘affordable luxury’.

“They have a sound and sustainable plan that will further enhance our arts, culture and entertainment offer for residents and visitors to Wolverhampton.”

James Jervis, director at PDJ Management, said: “We are incredibly enthusiastic about the potential of the venue at the Chubb and excited to be bringing cinema back to the city centre of Wolverhampton.

"We see this as a significant step for our independent, family run, group of cinemas, opening a site in the Black Country, more than 100 years after our family started its association with cinema in the region through Miles Jervis.

"We hope to see this luxury yet affordable venue prove very popular with the city and we plan on engaging with the local arts community to showcase the best creative talent of Wolverhampton alongside the planned core offering of major, first run releases.

"This will be a cinema for all, aimed at everyone from families and students to seniors.”

Andy Munro, chairman of MIA, said: “MIA are very pleased to see the space brought back into use and are looking forward to welcoming PDJ Management to the Chubb Building.

"We were pleased to be part of the selection process, working in partnership with the council to deliver this outcome.

"The Chubb Building is one of Wolverhampton’s premier and iconic heritage buildings and we are pleased that PDJ will be part of an already strong array of successful tenants.”

PDJ already runs The Dome Cinema in Worthing, Premiere Cinema in Romford, The Majestic Cinema in King's Lynn and Island Cinema in Lytham St Annes.

It is operated by one of the oldest cinema families in the world, with a history dating back around 125 years, showing flickering pictures in the Lickey Hills in 1897.

In the 1920s the family started operating cinemas such as the Chase and the Alhambra in the Black Country and Staffordshire, with Miles Jervis I being the figurehead.

Post-war growth was led by Miles Jervis II, acquiring multiple cinemas across the West Midlands, Black Country, Staffordshire and the rest of the UK, including the Radway in Sidmouth, through the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

The New Kings Cinema in West Bromwich, opened in 1975 by Miles Jervis III, was one of the first purpose built multi-screen cinemas in the UK. The business was sold in the mid 1990s.

Paul and Deborah Jervis founded what is now PDJ Management shortly after this sale, with four cinemas currently being operated.

On the maternal side, the family has deep ties to Wolverhampton industry and the area, being related to the founder of Orbit, Omega and Diamond Motorcycles on Sedgley Street in c.1910, remaining local to this day.

Wolverhampton Council had joined forces with property specialists Bruton Knowles to launch an appeal for expressions of interest from independent cinema operators and other creative organisations to run the Light House cinema.

It was announced in May that eight operators were competing to run the venue.

It was on the brink of closure in 2018 but managed to keep going after a plea to members of the public – and it managed to bounce back after Covid-19.

Staff member Darryl Griffiths announced the impending closure of the venue on social media – describing it as "the most devastating week professionally".

He said: "Our beloved Light House Wolverhampton will cease trading. For a venue that has been remarkably resilient amidst many a challenge, never did we think it would finally come to this.

"For me personally. This has been seven and a half years of my life, with the last four months transitioning into marketing. I have ate, drank and slept this place from pretty much the word go.

"It has been my home better than home. With a chosen family that has got me through the absolute worst of what life could throw at you, whilst granting me the space to get comfortable and simply be my authentic queer self. For that. No mere words of mine live up to what that has meant.

"Now let's talk about what the city of Wolverhampton is about to lose bar (an) 11th hour intervention. I think of the glorious All Hands On Decks vinyl nights. I think of the biannual Deaffest.

"Premieres celebrating local LGBTQ+ filmmaking. MUSOS Open Mic Nights. Wolverhampton Film Festival. Proud host of a BBC New Comedy Awards heat. The community groups aplenty that gather, where they or us staff could be the only people they see that week, in the midst of a warm space agenda. The fact I'm even having to type that out is a gross indictment on the country as a whole. And that's without factoring in the standard programming.

"The personal pain of this is hefty. But this goes far beyond one person. This is about the creative ecology of the city and the Midlands. Look at what's happening with the university. Look at the recent situation in Edinburgh. Now us. How many more warning shots do we have to fire, before those that are in a position of power or who can lobby take our pleas seriously about the importance of the arts?"