Edinburgh Filmhouse: Two high-profile buyer attempts for cinema fail

Two high-profile attempts to buy and reopen the Edinburgh Filmhouse have not been successful.

There were 14 bids for the listed building on Lothian Road, which closed in October after its parent company went into administration.

Estate agent Savills said it would announce the successful buyer in the new year.

A group of former employees of the cinema said they failed to raise enough money to have a viable bid.

Gregory Lynn, the Scottish owner of the Prince Charles Cinema in London's West End, said his bid was unsuccessful.

He told BBC Scotland: "I received a phone call and a follow up email to say my bid was rejected.

"They said they selected the bid which was the highest price.

"They said that bid blew everyone else out of the water.

"I'm feeling very deflated and disappointed.

"When it was confirmed there were 14 bids I knew we were up against it as I knew there were not 14 cinema operators so most of them must be developers."

It is feared the site will not reopen as a cinema.

Mr Lynn added: "We were invited to make clean bids, there were not to be conditions on the bids. Conditions means a change of use for the building.

"However, I've been told the highest bid does have conditions on it."

He said his bid calculations included £1.5m for the buildings value. A further £1m was then needed to make the building weather and water tight and an extra £500,000 to furnish the cinema.

Ginnie Atkinson, of Save the Filmhouse Campaign, said she still hoped the Filmhouse could return to the site.

"We haven't closed our fundraising page because you never know one of the bidders could be secretly trying to buy the Filmhouse to keep it as the Filmhouse.

"We didn't have enough money for a viable bid but we don't want to close the fundraising page down until we have all the facts.

"It's all in limbo just now and we still have hope."

She added: "I'm depressed for the city if we lose the Filmhouse but it's not over and until it's over."

They have raised £179,000 on their crowdfunding page but say private donations mean they have £764,000.

The Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Belmont cinema in Aberdeen ceased trading in October.

The Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) said this was due to reduced audiences during the pandemic, soaring energy charges, inflation and debt.

Beth Hocking, Savills spokeswoman, said: "We had a successful closing date with 14 bids on Wednesday last week.

"The agency team are working through bids just now with the lawyers and expect to announce details of the successful party in the New Year."