Next Steps Towards Recovery

Next Steps Towards Recovery

Oct 29, 2021 | News

Since reopening our doors in May we have been delighted to welcome our customers back with an exciting 7-day a week programme, including additional matinee screenings of new releases, and in line with restrictions easing, increased our cinema’s capacity from 30% to 50% (end of July). This has all been with the aim to rebuild our offer whilst keeping our staff, volunteers and audiences informed and safe. Just as we have taken a careful and cautious approach to building our business back up we’ve seen you take a similar careful approach to returning to cinemas like ours and we want to share what our next steps are.

What’s next?
Our next steps towards recovery are to increase the seating capacity in our cinema. From Friday 5th November the capacity at the UPP will be set at 85% of our pre-pandemic number. We will be keeping the allocated seating so that everyone can choose where they would like to sit and see when screenings are busy. In addition, the back four rows will remain a socially-distanced zone (one seat between each booking party) to ensure everyone is comfortable.

Face coverings
We will continue to ask everyone to wear a face-covering inside the cinema, both while seating and when moving around the building, unless you are eating/drinking or you are exempt.

Socially Distanced Screenings
To continue with our commitment to access for all our customers, including those who do not wish to attend an 85% capacity show, we will also be introducing regular 50% Reduced Capacity Socially Distanced Screenings for each new release title. These socially distanced screenings will be sold at 50% capacity and have one seat between each booking party.

Bringing the outside inside
We will continue using our two Rensair hospital-grade air purifiers before and after all screenings, which in addition to the fresh air flow from our newly-serviced air conditioning units makes sure our auditorium has good ventilation and airflow. We will also be continuing with our enhanced cleaning regime, keeping screens at the bar and box office, and having hand sanitiser stations available throughout the building.

Let us know how you are feeling
Get in touch with us at info@uppcinema.com to feedback on how you feel about this change or if you have any questions about our recovery plans.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road. We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We don’t show adverts, just a couple of trailers, so don't be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!