EXCLUSIVE: Globalls runs other venues in Brighton and Weymouth
A glow-in-the-dark mini-golf venue is set to take over the vacant Throwley Yard site on Sutton High Street, the Local Democracy Reporting Service can reveal.
Despite not being the highest financial bidder, Globalls was chosen by the Liberal Democrat-led Sutton Council to take over the space formerly occupied by the doomed independent cinema venture. Councillors concluded its proposal would do more to increase footfall and inject new “vitality” into the town’s cultural and leisure scene, at a meeting where the winning bidder was discussed but not named.
Yet one critic claimed the council failed to consult residents on the site’s future following the high-profile collapse of the Throwley Yard cinema, which closed after just 14 months and significant investment from Sutton Council.
The decision over what would replace it was discussed at the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on June 22, where Lib Dem members backed a recommendation to award a 15-year lease to Globalls, one of six bidders for the site. In the public part of the meeting councillors simply referred to the “preferred bidder”, with the local authority not yet publicly naming the operator.
However a source close to the council has confirmed to the LDRS that Globalls is the preferred bidder.
The mini golf, games and and refreshments provider currently has two other locations, on the south coast in Brighton and Weymouth. Its opening at Throwley Yard – in the former Chicago’s Nightclub space – will mark its first venture into Greater London.
During the meeting, Council Leader Barry Lewis said the new operator would bring “added vitality and energy to the high street”.
However, Green Party member and local artist Doug Shaw suggested residents hadn’t been properly consulted on what would replace the failed cinema. Addressing the committee on behalf of residents who signed his petition calling for greater transparency from the council, he said: “I was a member of Throwley Yard. I joined reluctantly because it didn’t feel like a good idea to me. Why put a cinema in when it would be competing with an existing business?”
Warning against repeating past mistakes, Mr Shaw said: “We are about to go through all of this again and it just feels to me there has been an absence of engagement with residents of the borough about what we might like to see in that space. You have had the time to engage with us and you appear to have chosen not to.”
Throwley Yard opened in September 2024 following a £3.2 million public investment, including £1.9 million from the Government’s Future High Streets Fund and £1.3 million from Sutton Council.
Despite hopes it would revitalise the town centre with a cinema, café, bar and arts venue, it closed in November 2025 after just 14 months in operation. Earlier this month, the LDRS revealed former tenant Really Local Group still owes Sutton Council more than £115,000 in unpaid rent after entering liquidation.
Responding to Mr Shaw’s criticism, Cllr Lewis insisted the council had engaged extensively with residents and defended its wider regeneration programme.
“We are a very open and transparent council,” he said, adding that he was “so proud of the engagement we have had with residents”.
Cllr Lewis pointed to more than 1,000 residents who had been consulted on Sutton town centre proposals between September 2025 and March 2026, alongside engagement through the Local Plan process.
He also highlighted the refurbishment of several town centre properties supported by the Future High Streets Fund. These include the former BHS building now occupied by Oru Space, and the former Topshop and Vision Express units, now taken over by Pandora and Popeyes — moves he described as “solid wins” for the area.
Turning to Throwley Yard, Cllr Lewis acknowledged the original cinema concept had not met expectations. “The hope was to revitalise it as a cinema, café, bar and arts venue. That didn’t come off,” he said.
“All these things are measured risks. At the time we knew it was a measured risk, but we have ended up with an eminently lettable venue [by investing in the space when the cinema was open].”
Later, Councillor Sunita Gordon argued that the aim of the original investment had never been to maximise rental income. Instead, she argued: “It was to create a destination that would increase footfall, support local businesses, strengthen our evening economy and provide a more diverse leisure and culture offer for residents.”
Globalls expects to create between 20 and 26 jobs in Sutton, including a mix of full and part-time roles. However, council officers said there was no commitment at this stage for those roles to be filled by local people, though discussions were taking place with the tenant on local recruitment, apprenticeships and work placements.
A timeline for the opening of the new venue is expected to be announced soon.
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