Tim
Richards

Richards led London-based cinema operator Vue to record-high revenues in 2019 as well as the first quarter of 2020, but then the coronavirus pandemic hit, resulting in the closure of every one of the company’s 226 theaters. By September, he was able to reopen all of its screens by implementing a set of protocols that included staggered showtimes, social distancing, enhanced cleaning and protective gear for employees, but a resurgence of coronavirus in the U.K. forced Richards to again close Vue sites two different times, with the latest closure in December following a brief reopening attempt. A former home-entertainment exec and onetime Wall Street lawyer, Richards launched the company with a single screen in Scotland in 2000, and over the next two decades he expanded its footprint to nine countries with a string of acquisitions, including Warner Village Cinemas (2003), Polish exhibitor Multikino (2013) and Ireland’s Showtime Cinemas (2018).