We can now confirm that Empire Cinemas will anchor the £50 million redevelopment together with Travelodge Hotels.

The regeneration proposal includes a state-of-the-art 11 screen Empire cinema, including 1,370 seats and their large format IMPACT screen, 80 bed Travelodge Hotel, together with ten new restaurants and cafes, two indoor leisure units, a new public square and a multi-storey car park.

Empire is the UK’s leading independently owned cinema chain and caters for a wide-range of cinema goers and film enthusiasts. Justin Ribbons, CEO of Empire Cinemas, said; “We are thrilled to be partnering with Turnstone to bring this multiplex cinema to the heart of Southend-on-Sea and we look forward to entertaining local film fans for many years to come”.

Tim Deacon, Director of Turnstone Estates, said, “Our vision is to create a destination family leisure scheme right here in Southend town centre.  The brand new entertainment facilities will help protect and enhance the reputation of the seafront as a go-to destination for residents and visitors alike. We are very excited to announce Empire and Travelodge and are also in discussion with a number of exciting new tenants for the restaurant and leisure units. We will be making further announcements shortly”.

The new Seaway Leisure development is expected to directly create around 450 new jobs, and provide a boost to Southend’s town centre economy. The site is allocated for development in Southend’s draft Central Area Action plan, which sets out the council’s plans for a strong town centre and seafront.

The proposals for the Seaway Leisure development will be submitted to Southend on Sea Borough Council this summer and construction could start in 2018.