Sutton Council is still owed more than £100,000 in unpaid rent from a failed high street cinema, despite almost £3.2 million of public money being invested into the project.
An investigation by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed that former Throwley Yard operator Really Local Group (RLG) owes Sutton Council £115,624.32 in unpaid rent following the closure of the cinema in November last year.
RLG, which ran a number of failed cinemas across the capital, opened the Sutton branch on the former Chicago’s nightclub site in September 2024.
Local artist and recent Green Party candidate for Sutton Central, Doug Shaw, who has led calls for greater accountability with a new petition, said: "Surely this could have been done better."
"It had the stench of death about it from day one. It was really poorly supported, and I felt that it didn’t try hard enough to offer an alternative to the Omniplex cinema. So rather than trying to give us something new, it tried to compete with an existing business," he added.
Doug Shaw is a local artist who ran as a Green Party candidate for the Sutton Central ward in the 2026 local elections.
Almost £3.2 million of public money was invested in the redevelopment of Throwley Yard, including £1.9 million in government funding and £1.3 million from council funds. As the council seeks to recover its losses through the administrators, Mr Shaw argues it must learn lessons from the failed venture.
He believes the decision to commit public funds to the now-liquidated RLG to operate a cinema demonstrated poor judgement by the council, particularly given the company’s track record and the presence of an established multiplex cinema in the town centre.
"The cinema side of things was doomed to fail from the start, and I think it was a terrible use of public funds and government grants," he said. He recalled visits to the cinema where, even for opening day releases, only his partner and one other audience member were present.
The LDRS has previously documented the cinema’s struggles and spoke to a former staff member last November, who offered insight into its failings. They said: "Everyone in the team thought the writing was on the wall within a year. That’s when things were getting worse."
Sutton Council said that it maintained regular oversight of the lease and engaged with RLG where any issues arose. Documents released following a Freedom of Information request show council officers held 14 meetings with RLG staff at Throwley Yard between July 2024 and December 2025.
However, Sutton Council repeatedly refused our requests to provide information regarding correspondence about missed payments, rent arrears and wider financial issues. It cited commercial sensitivity and concerns that disclosure could prejudice efforts to recover money owed.
Despite the public collapse of Throwley Yard just 14 months after opening and new revelations over rent arrears, Mr Shaw believes the failure has not dented support for the Lib Dem council. He pointed to the recent local election results, which saw them take 51 of the 55 seats on the council.
"They have just been elected and they absolutely swept the board," he said. "We are living in a borough now where there is effectively no opposition."
Despite a post announcing the closure and some limited discussion at meetings, the council has been relatively quiet on the subject since November 2025. Mr Shaw believes this lack of communication is particularly concerning for community groups that used Throwley Yard as a much-needed meeting space in the town centre.
"All that’s gone, and one of the worries with the lack of announcement is how is that going to be replaced?" he said. When asked what he would like to see replace it, Mr Shaw said he wanted to see something currently lacking on the high street, such as a bowling alley.
In his petition, he is calling for residents to have a right to know whether decisions about a new venue will be made "fairly, transparently, and without bias". He is also calling for greater opportunities for community input and oversight before any final decision on a successor is made.
Sutton councillors will discuss possible future tenants for the site at a public meeting on June 22.
A Sutton Council spokesperson said: "We want to build on what is already a really solid foundation in Sutton town centre. We have the best occupancy rates for retail and leisure premises in London – there are just 7 per cent vacant units in Sutton High Street.
"Sutton is also one of the best places for new businesses to keep trading compared to all other outer London boroughs – 50 per cent of Sutton businesses founded in 2020 survived at least four years compared to 43 per cent in Outer London (43.2 per cent).
"Throwley Yard is a key site in Sutton town centre which had been vacant since 2013. We are really pleased to have brought it back into use and we now have a newly-refurbished space that can be let to a new tenant.
"The council has engaged with 1,500 residents, businesses and young people since September 2025 about what people want to see in Sutton town centre as we move away from retail towards leisure, culture, community and mixed-use activity. This engagement will continue as the council draws up plans for a greener, safer and more vibrant town centre."
Really Local Group was approached for comment.
