Battle · 6 companies

Cinema chains

Blockbuster, or straight to streaming?

Vue leads on turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin and net assets; Picturehouse on growth. Vue is the biggest by turnover at £313m, against £221m at Odeon. Vue keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £12.32 as pre-tax profit.

The year ends are up to 12 months apart, so this compares each company's most recent filing rather than the same twelve months. Everyman and Picturehouse file group accounts that include subsidiaries; Cineworld, Odeon, Vue and Showcase file for a single company, which flatters the groups on size.

Spark Intel Research Desk·Last updated ·Source: Companies House filed accounts

Accounts compared: Cineworld to Dec 2025 · Odeon to Dec 2025 · Vue to Nov 2025 · Everyman to Jan 2026 · Picturehouse to Dec 2024 · Showcase to Jan 2026

Biggest by turnover

Vue

£313m

Highest profit margin

Vue

12.3%

Fastest-growing turnover

Picturehouse

+12.8%

The Numbers

#CompanyTurnoverChangePre-tax profitMarginEmployeesPay per headTurnover per headNet assetsBank and cashAccounts toBasis
1 VueVue Entertainment Limited £313m +9.2% £39m 12.3% 3,503 £12,000 £89,000 £399m £10m Nov 2025 Single company
2 OdeonOdeon Cinemas Limited £221m +4.8% -£52m -23.7% 2,842 £23,000 £78,000 £27m £27m Dec 2025 Single company
3 EverymanEveryman Media Group PLC £117m +8.8% -£10m -8.7% 1,834 £20,000 £64,000 £27m £8m Jan 2026 Group
4 CineworldCineworld Cinemas Limited £93m -15.5% -£16m -16.8% 1,332 £25,000 £70,000 -£328m £21m Dec 2025 Single company
5 ShowcaseHarbor Lights Entertainment (UK) Limited £88m -1.9% -£5m -5.8% 947 £19,000 £93,000 -£75m £6m Jan 2026 Single company
6 PicturehousePicturehouse Cinemas Limited £43m +12.8% -£10m -23.4% 695 £23,000 £62,000 -£43m £5m Dec 2024 Group

Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.). Cineworld Cinemas Limited runs Cineworld cinemas 'together with Cine-UK Limited and certain Jersey-registered fellow subsidiaries', so its £93.0m of revenue covers only part of Cineworld's UK estate (accounts to 31 December 2025, pp. 4 and 32).

Category winners

Biggest by turnover

Vue

£313m

Most pre-tax profit

Vue

£39m

Highest profit margin

Vue

12.3%

Fastest-growing turnover

Picturehouse

+12.8%

Biggest employer

Vue

3,503 staff

Highest pay per head

Cineworld

£25,000

Most turnover per head

Showcase

£93,000

Largest net assets

Vue

£399m

Most cash

Odeon

£27m

The Takeaway

  1. Vue converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £12.32 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £23.71 at Odeon.
  2. Vue is the largest on the top line, £313m of turnover, 1.4x Odeon's £221m.
  3. Picturehouse is growing fastest, turnover +12.8% on its own prior year. Cineworld and Showcase went backwards.
  4. Vue is the biggest employer with 3,503 people; Cineworld pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £25,000.
  5. Vue has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £399m, while Odeon holds the most cash at £27m.

Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?

Vue keeps the most: £12.32 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Odeon does worst, losing £23.71.

Financing bites hardest at Cineworld: £14.99 of every £100 goes on interest.

Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.

The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.

Out of every £100 of turnover

£100£0 Payroll: £13.02 of every £100£13.02Financing: £11.13 of every £100£11.13Other costs: £63.53 of every £100£63.53Profit: £12.32 of every £100Profit £12.32VueYear to Nov 2025£313mPayroll: £20.41 of every £100Payroll£20.41Other costs: £85.39 of every £100£85.39Loss (the costs beyond £100): £5.80 of every £100Loss £5.80ShowcaseYear to Jan 2026£88mPayroll: £31.12 of every £100Payroll£31.12Financing: £6.21 of every £100£6.21Other costs: £71.40 of every £100£71.40Loss (the costs beyond £100): £8.73 of every £100Loss £8.73EverymanYear to Jan 2026£117mPayroll: £35.58 of every £100Payroll£35.58Financing: £14.99 of every £100Financing£14.99Other costs: £66.21 of every £100£66.21Loss (the costs beyond £100): £16.78 of every £100Loss £16.78CineworldYear to Dec 2025£93mPayroll: £36.60 of every £100Payroll£36.60Financing: £8.31 of every £100£8.31Other costs: £78.52 of every £100£78.52Loss (the costs beyond £100): £23.43 of every £100Loss £23.43Pictureho…Year to Dec 2024£43mPayroll: £29.41 of every £100Payroll£29.41Financing: £10.32 of every £100£10.32Other costs: £83.97 of every £100£83.97Loss (the costs beyond £100): £23.71 of every £100Loss £23.71OdeonYear to Dec 2025£221m
Payroll (staff costs)Financing (interest paid)Other running costsPre-tax profitLoss: the costs beyond £100

Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.

Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?

By turnover the order is Vue (£313m), Odeon (£221m), Everyman (£117m), Cineworld (£93m), Showcase (£88m), Picturehouse (£43m).

By headcount, Vue leads with 3,503 employees.

The comparison holds with the dates stated plainly: Cineworld to Dec 2025, Odeon to Dec 2025, Vue to Nov 2025, Everyman to Jan 2026, Picturehouse to Dec 2024, Showcase to Jan 2026. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.

Vue£313mOdeon£221mEveryman£117mCineworld£93mShowcase£88mPicturehouse£43m

Turnover on the latest filing

Who is growing fastest?

Picturehouse grew fastest, turnover +12.8% on its own prior year, ahead of Vue (+9.2%), Everyman (+8.8%), Odeon (+4.8%), Showcase (-1.9%), Cineworld (-15.5%).

Picturehouse+12.8%Vue+9.2%Everyman+8.8%Odeon+4.8%Showcase-1.9%Cineworld-15.5%

Turnover change on each company's own prior year

Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?

Vue employs the most, 3,503 people, against 2,842 at Odeon.

Cineworld has the highest average staff cost, about £25,000 a head; Vue the lowest, about £12,000.

Showcase brings in the most turnover per employee, about £93,000, against £62,000 at Picturehouse. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.

Cineworld

1,332

employees, about £25,000 pay a head, £70,000 turnover a head, -15.9% on the year

Odeon

2,842

employees, about £23,000 pay a head, £78,000 turnover a head, +2.1% on the year

Vue

3,503

employees, about £12,000 pay a head, £89,000 turnover a head, +12.5% on the year

Everyman

1,834

employees, about £20,000 pay a head, £64,000 turnover a head, +12.7% on the year

Picturehouse

695

employees, about £23,000 pay a head, £62,000 turnover a head, +5.3% on the year

Showcase

947

employees, about £19,000 pay a head, £93,000 turnover a head, -18.4% on the year

Who owns each one?

Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.

Cineworld Cinemas Limited · 01915767

Held by Cineworld Cinemas Holdings Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control. 4 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns Cineworld →

Odeon Cinemas Limited · 01854132

Held by Odeon Cinemas Holdings Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns Odeon →

Vue Entertainment Limited · 04699504

Held by Vue Entertainment Holdings (Uk) Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control. 5 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns Vue →

Everyman Media Group PLC · 08684079

Owned by its shareholders

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register. 1 outstanding charge on the register.

Who owns Everyman →

Picturehouse Cinemas Limited · 02310403

Held by Cineworld Holdings Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control. 3 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns Picturehouse →

Harbor Lights Entertainment (UK) Limited · 02141131

Held by David Ferris Ellison

An individual recorded as a person with significant control.

Who owns Showcase →

What does the full ledger show?

MeasureCineworldOdeonVueEverymanPicturehouseShowcase
Registered nameCINEWORLD CINEMAS LIMITEDODEON CINEMAS LIMITEDVUE ENTERTAINMENT LIMITEDEVERYMAN MEDIA GROUP PLCPICTUREHOUSE CINEMAS LIMITEDHARBOR LIGHTS ENTERTAINMENT (UK) LIMITED
Company number019157670185413204699504086840790231040302141131
Incorporated198519842003201319881987
Accounts filed2 October 202621 September 20264 July 20263 June 202610 March 202626 October 2026
Turnover, prior year£110m£211m£287m£107m£38m£90m
Pre-tax profit, prior year£23m-£48m£20m-£10m-£2m-£1.9m
Staff costs£33m£65m£41m£36m£16m£18m
Payroll share of turnover35.6%29.4%13.0%31.1%36.6%20.4%
Employees, prior year1,5842,7833,1151,6286601,161
Dividends paidn/dn/dn/dn/dn/dn/d
Charges outstanding425130

A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.

Cinema chains: common questions

Who is the biggest of Cineworld, Odeon, Vue, Everyman, Picturehouse or Showcase?

Vue, with turnover of £313m in the year to November 2025.

Which makes the most profit?

Vue: £39m pre-tax in the year to November 2025.

Which employs the most people?

Vue, with 3,503 employees in its latest accounts.

Cineworld or Odeon: which is bigger?

Odeon, with turnover of £221m against £93m at Cineworld on their latest filings. On margin, Cineworld keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →

Cineworld or Vue: which is bigger?

Vue, with turnover of £313m against £93m at Cineworld on their latest filings. On margin, Vue keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Cineworld or Everyman: which is bigger?

Everyman, with turnover of £117m against £93m at Cineworld on their latest filings. On margin, Everyman keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Cineworld or Picturehouse: which is bigger?

Cineworld, with turnover of £93m against £43m at Picturehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Cineworld keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Cineworld or Showcase: which is bigger?

Cineworld, with turnover of £93m against £88m at Showcase on their latest filings. On margin, Showcase keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Odeon or Vue: which is bigger?

Vue, with turnover of £313m against £221m at Odeon on their latest filings. On margin, Vue keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Odeon or Everyman: which is bigger?

Odeon, with turnover of £221m against £117m at Everyman on their latest filings. On margin, Everyman keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Odeon or Picturehouse: which is bigger?

Odeon, with turnover of £221m against £43m at Picturehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Picturehouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Odeon or Showcase: which is bigger?

Odeon, with turnover of £221m against £88m at Showcase on their latest filings. On margin, Showcase keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Vue or Everyman: which is bigger?

Vue, with turnover of £313m against £117m at Everyman on their latest filings. On margin, Vue keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Vue or Picturehouse: which is bigger?

Vue, with turnover of £313m against £43m at Picturehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Vue keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Vue or Showcase: which is bigger?

Vue, with turnover of £313m against £88m at Showcase on their latest filings. On margin, Vue keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Everyman or Picturehouse: which is bigger?

Everyman, with turnover of £117m against £43m at Picturehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Everyman keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Everyman or Showcase: which is bigger?

Everyman, with turnover of £117m against £88m at Showcase on their latest filings. On margin, Showcase keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Picturehouse or Showcase: which is bigger?

Showcase, with turnover of £88m against £43m at Picturehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Showcase keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Where do these figures come from?

Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.

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