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The boss of upscale film company Everyman Media Group has resigned, weeks after warning of poor sales and profits at the box office.
Everyman said Alex Scrimgeour has been replaced on an interim basis by non-executive director Farah Golant, who will lead the company “with the support of the wider management team and board” until a permanent chief executive is appointed.
Mr Scrimgeour took over the role in January 2021 after leading the group for nearly five years. French The restaurant chain Cote Brasserie has been established since 2015.
His sudden departure follows a profit warning in early December as the share price tumbled to record lows, and comes after the group’s finance chief resigned just before Christmas.
The chain, which operates 49 cinemas across the UK, said at the time that box office performance in the fourth quarter of the year was weaker than expected and consumer spending was also under pressure.
The company told shareholders it expected sales of at least 114.5 million pounds and underlying profits of at least 16.8 million pounds in the year to January 1, down from previous forecasts of 121.6 million pounds and 20 million pounds respectively.
Chairman Philip Jacobson said: “We would like to thank Alex for his commitment to ordinary people throughout his tenure.
“He played a key role in the team that successfully led the company’s recovery from COVID-19, more than doubling revenue and achieving significant growth in EBITDA.”
He added: “Farrah has extensive experience in the global creative, entertainment and media industries and has a proven track record of accelerating growth and developing high-performing, results-driven organizations.”
The company said it has begun an external search for Scrimgeour’s permanent successor.
Interim boss Ms Golant has a career spanning more than 30 years in the media and creative industries, including President of Kyu Group, CEO of Kyu Group, a group of leading creative companies; Nike Foundation’s ‘Girl Effect’, boss of independent TV, film and digital production and distribution group All3Media.
Dan Coatsworth, Head of Marketing Ajay BellIt said Everyman faced pressure from larger rivals to copy its “winning elements”, with its share price plummeting 76% in the past five years.
He said: “The leading chain stores Vie and Odeon Reclining seats were installed to bring comfort to the mass market and they also introduced bars in cinemas.
“Scrimgeour declared Common Man a ‘truly differentiating proposition’ when he was appointed five years ago. Fast forward to today and that differentiation has evaporated.
“To be fair, 2025 isn’t exactly a prime year for new movie releases, which makes things even worse for the average person.”
He said: “In the past two weeks, Everyman has lost its chief executive and financial director; the latter resigned on December 15.
“This is unfortunate timing and means there is a lot of pressure to find a new leadership team quickly.”