When the Regal Theatre in Stowmarket closed in February for work to begin on the £3.65m refurbishment & expansion project, plans were to open a temporary cinema at the John Peel Centre in April, but the Covid-19 crisis saw every cinema in the country be ordered to close in March.
Four months later than planned, the ‘Regal on the Road’ at the John Peel Centre opened and is now celebrating their 750th customer.
Regal Manager David Marsh said: ‘These are challenging times for all cinemas, with limited new releases and the need for extensive safeguarding measures, we were set a target of 750 people in our opening month, but I’m pleased to announce that we’ve broken that target with 10 days to spare’.
The lucky 750th customer was Greta Hansen and her Grandson Oscar Hansen-Costa who were visiting to watch the film 100% Wolf, they won a Regal Golden Ticket, allowing them 10 free trips to the Cinema.
David continued: ‘Greta was a regular customer at the Regal and she’s watched a few films here at the John Peel Centre, so it seems fitting that she is our lucky 750th customer. We’ve received lots of positive comments about our safeguarding measures, making people feel safe in the cinema has been our top priority and has probably been the biggest factor in us smashing our target’.
UK guidelines currently require cinema audiences to wear face coverings in foyer areas, but can be removed whist seated.
You can see the latest programme for Regal on the Road at the John Peel Centre at www.regalstowmarket.co.uk.