Lumiere-Romford’s Fantastic New Cinema Heading To the Mercury To Provide Endless Entertainment.

The Mercury in Romford is preparing itself for the arrival of a fantastic new cinema. Lumiere will provide Havering residents with new opportunities such as amazing films, cabaret nights and even free films on certain days for over 60 year olds.

Spencer Hawken, Romford Film Trust Chair spoke to the Havering Daily about the upcoming opening of this amazing new venue.

 “As you’re aware we said last week we need to raise £750,000 over three years, to completely transform the place, but we only needed to raise £100,000 for now” explains Spencer. “The reason we set this target however is that it creates a firm base for us to operate moving forward. Very early on we realised the membership model was key to the success of the project, we never set out to create a cheap cinema experience for those that don’t become members, it makes no sense, carry on using the regular mainstream cinema at The Brewery. Our target was the 20% of available audience from Havering and Redbridge that venture into central London to have the type of experience we’ll offer at a fraction of the price and who never visit a Romford cinema because it’s simply not for them, whether it’s because they don’t like the environment or the offer is not what they want, because they want a more discerning offer.  As an example the film The Banshees of Inisherin released a little over two years ago, didn’t show in Romford until a month after it was released in London, by then this multi-Oscar nominated film had lost its audience locally because they all assumed  they needed to travel into central London to see it, these are the sort of films we’ll be targeting from release day to sit in the non mainstream screens.” 

 Hawken continues “film bookers that operated in Romford, were led by profit alone, therefore each week roughly ten releases were completely missed, given that we’ll operate as a charity we need a third of Premiere Cinemas customers to come back in order to make the venue a success and that’s just cinema alone”. 

The membership business model is £30 (per year) to unlock the prices previously offered by Premiere Cinemas, Albeit 1p difference as at the time the cinema closed the tickets were £3.99. Customers can currently get that for £20 if they pay into the Crowdfunder or for £30 they get 4 free tickets. Only one member of the family needs to be a member, once signed up the prices will be £4 each or £14 for a family of 4. Meanwhile concessions will match Premiere’s prices but members will get 10% off. The venue will operate on a not-for-profit basis, which means that any made will be returned to customers in the form of Lumiere credit to spend in the venue at the end of each financial year, a bit like co-op dividends. Each £30 raised will not be spent on staff or concessions, it will go to the maintenance of the building, which is how much of the other £650,000 will be made over the next three years. 

“While of course we’ll be applying for funds, because we’ll be doing the kind of things those funds were made for, we won’t be dependent on them. Which means we won’t crash and burn at the first hurdle. The biggest cause of cinema failure currently is because the studios have taken all the profit of of cinema ticket admissions and the charity cinemas fail because they become hooked on the funds from public bodies, but when those funds disappear so does the cinema. We already have ahead of opening a good amount of members, eager to experience what we offer. And because our experience will be dramatically different from what else is happening, we are sure they’ll return and tell their friends.” 

  Lumiere’s offer is diverse to say the least when it comes to the cinematic journey, in addition to all the mainstream films and those films already discussed that get missed. Screen 7 will show a continuous flurry of classic cinema, which will include regular sing-a-longs, interactive mystery, seasons of the best cinema of all time and the odd all-nighter. Meanwhile on Monday nights a regular film and tv quiz will see teams battle it out week on week to be the Christmas movie champions. 

 But Lumiere’s vision does not end there, there will be regular cabaret, comedy nights and exposure to other forms of the performance arts. From early 2026 the venue will offer intimate performances by 80’s and 90’s music legends. While celebrities of yesteryear will talk about their lives as their careers are revisited. 

 There’s a whole host of other activity planned, focused around art including space for artists to both work in, and display their work. For podcasters and vodcasters to book, silent spaces to enhance their careers. There will be rehearsal space available whether it’s to perform for themselves, or for trial audiences. 

The biggest concern of Lumiere however is being accessible. “Currently it’s almost impossible for someone who has accessibility issues to visit the space. You have to get a lift to level 3 of the centre, ring a doorbell to get admission, but then they have the issue of accessing screens, the doors are heavy and there’s only about one space if that in each screen for those with disabilities. There’s a low level area to be served food and drink in, but payment is at the higher level, then how do they get those things to the screen without spilling them? This is a major part of why we need to raise that £100,000 we want everyone that visits to feel they can do everything and go everywhere, without needing a carer to be with them.” 

The venue will also offer free movies to the other 60s on Thursday mornings in the 10am, 11am and 12pm slots. “These are the generations that raised us and are continually been hit by one government after another, we’ll entertain them, keep them warm and give them a nice hot drink. And as the venue changes, we’ll provide them other complimentary activity to ensure we support our local pensioners and that’s the centre of everything we do.” 

The Romford Film Trust is raising £100,000 if you’d like to support them, there are wonderful offers available ahead of opening 

 As the new entertainment venue Lumiere prepares to reach 10% of its fundraising target for transforming part of its space, we caught up with the people behind Romford Film Trust to understand more about how and why it will work.

“As you’re aware, we said last week that we need to raise £750,000 over three years to completely transform the place, but we only need to raise £100,000 for now,” explains Romford Film Trust chair, Spencer Hawken. “However, the reason we set this initial target is that it creates a firm base for us to operate moving forward. Very early on, we realised the membership model was key to the success of the project. We never set out to create a cheap cinema experience for those who don’t become members – it makes no sense; they can carry on using the regular mainstream cinema at The Brewery. Our target was the 20% of the potential audience from Havering and Redbridge who currently venture into central London to have the type of experience we’ll offer, at a fraction of the price. These are people who never visit a Romford cinema because it’s simply not for them, whether that’s because they don’t like the environment or the films on offer aren’t what they want. They want a more discerning offer. For example, the film The Banshees of Inisherin, released a little over two years ago, didn’t show in Romford until a month after its London release. By then, this multi-Oscar-nominated film had lost its audience locally because they all assumed they needed to travel into central London to see it. These are the sort of films we’ll be targeting from release day, to screen in our non-mainstream screens.”

Hawken continues, “Film bookers that operated in Romford were led by profit alone. Therefore, each week, roughly ten releases were completely missed. Given that we’ll operate as a charity, we need a third of Premiere Cinemas’ customers to come back in order to make the venue a success, and that’s just through cinema attendance alone.”

The membership business model is £30 per year, which unlocks the prices previously offered by Premiere Cinemas – albeit with a 1p difference, as at the time the cinema closed, tickets were £3.99. Customers can currently get that price for £20 if they contribute to the Crowdfunder, or for £30, they get four free tickets. Only one member of the family needs to be a member, so a family of four would pay £4 each, or £14 in total. Meanwhile, concessions will match Premiere Cinemas’ prices, but members will get a 10% discount. The venue will operate on a not-for-profit basis, which means that any profit made will be returned to customers in the form of Lumiere credit to spend in the venue at the end of each financial year, a bit like co-op dividends. Each £30 raised will not be spent on staff or concessions; it will go towards the maintenance of the building, which is how much of the other £650,000 will be raised over the next three years.

“While, of course, we’ll be applying for grants – because we’ll be doing the kind of things those grants were designed for – we won’t be dependent on them. This means we won’t crash and burn at the first hurdle. The biggest cause of cinema failure currently is that the studios have taken all the profit from cinema ticket admissions, and the charity cinemas fail because they become reliant on grants from public bodies, but when those funds disappear, so does the cinema. We already have, ahead of opening, a good number of members eager to experience what we offer. And because our experience will be dramatically different from what else is on offer locally, we are sure they’ll return and tell their friends.”

Lumiere’s offer is diverse, to say the least, when it comes to the cinematic journey, in addition to all the mainstream films and those films already discussed that get missed. Screen 7 will show a continuous stream of classic cinema, which will include regular singalongs, interactive mystery screenings, seasons of the best cinema of all time, and the odd all-nighter. Meanwhile, on Monday nights, a regular film and TV quiz will see teams battle it out week on week to be the Christmas movie champions.

But Lumiere’s vision does not end there: there will be regular cabaret, comedy nights, and exposure to other forms of the performing arts. From early 2026, the venue will offer intimate performances by 80s and 90s music legends, while celebrities of yesteryear will talk about their lives and revisit their careers.

There’s a whole host of other activities planned, focused around art, including space for artists to both work in and display their work. Podcasters and vodcasters will be able to book silent spaces to enhance their careers. There will also be rehearsal space available, whether it’s to perform for themselves or for trial audiences.

Lumiere’s biggest concern, however, is accessibility. “Currently, it’s almost impossible for someone who has accessibility issues to visit the space. You have to take a lift to level 3 of the centre and ring a doorbell to gain admission, but then they have the issue of accessing screens – the doors are heavy, and there’s only about one space, if that, in each screen for those with disabilities. There’s a low-level area to be served food and drink, but payment is at a higher level – then how do they get those items to the screen without spilling them? This is a major part of why we need to raise that £100,000. We want everyone who visits to feel they can do everything and go everywhere without needing a carer to be with them.”

The venue will also offer free film screenings for the over-60s on Thursday mornings, in the 10 am, 11 am, and 12 pm slots. “These are the generations that raised us and are continually being hit by one government policy after another. We’ll entertain them, keep them warm, and give them a nice hot drink. And as the venue evolves, we’ll provide them with other complimentary activities to ensure we support our local pensioners – that’s at the heart of everything we do.”

The Romford Film Trust is raising £100,000. If you’d like to support them, there are wonderful offers available ahead of opening.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/lumiere-romford—former-premiere-cinema

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