Will Oban get any cash back from selling its cinema?

Locals raised and donated thousands of pounds to collectively buy the building after ’The Highland Theatre’ on George Street closed in 2010.

Two years later, Oban Phoenix Cinema opened its doors as a fully independent community-owned cinema, and a registered charity.

Recently the cinema had struggled financially, and ceased trading on May 29. Its board of trustees explained: “We have been struggling with a massive decline in footfall alongside a rise in costs over the last few years.

"Unfortunately, numbers have declined even further during the last few months, and it is with great sadness that we have had to close the cinema as it had become insolvent.” 

The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) told us on May 30: "Oban Phoenix Cinema (SC042407) applied OSCR for consent to wind-up due to being insolvent.

"Consent has been granted by OSCR and they are currently going through the process of appointing liquidators."

The joint provisional liquidators, Blair Milne and David Meldrum of accountancy firm Azets, said: “We will market the property and assets for sale and try to find a buyer keen to continue operating a cinema on the site."

Given the cinema was community-owned, we asked the liquidators: does the community get a say in who it is sold to, and what it is sold as such as a cinema, a hotel or a restaurant and similar.

We also asked: once the creditors and fees have been paid, does any money leftover come back to the community?

We then asked: Do the liquidators have to accept the highest bidder? If the highest bid does not use the assets for a cinema, do the liquidators have to accept that bid? Can the liquidators accept a lower bid, if the assets are used as a cinema?

A spokesman for the joint interim liquidators replied: "The joint liquidators are focusing on marketing the Oban Phoenix Cinema and are unable to discuss different scenarios that may or may not arise”.