Frozen, Back to the Future and Matilda boost West End theatres owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber

The popularity of productions such as Frozen, Back to the Future and Matilda with audiences helped sales near £200m at the theatres owned by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, newly-filed documents have revealed.

London-headquartered LW Theatres is made up of The Theatre Royal Drury Lane, The London Palladium, Adelphi Theatre, His Majesty’s Theatre, Cambridge Theatre and Gillian Lynne Theatre.

LW Theatres said that attendance across its six venues increased by 23 per cent to 3.2 million in the year to July 2, 2023, as a result of the uninterrupted trading and full programming following the Covid-19 pandemic. Its box office takings also grew from £107.2m to £126.2m.

That rise in attendance drove the group’s turnover up 19 per cent to £190.7m and its pre-tax profits from £7.2m to £16.8m, according to newly-filed documents with Companies House.

A statement signed off by the board said: “We expect another full year of trading but anticipate our turnover and profitability will continue to be put under pressure by the cost-of-living crisis and high interest rates and the impact of these factors on consumer spending.”

During the year, the average number of people employed by the group fell from 552 to 471.

The results come after City A.M. reported that Lord Webber’s entertainment empire returned to making a profit helped by a surge in ticket sales ahead of Phantom of the Opera closing on Broadway.

London-headquartered The Really Useful Group reported pre-tax profits of £10.2m for the year to June 30, 2023, having made a pre-tax loss of £3.8m in the prior 12 months.

The account also showed the group’s turnover increased from £37.8m to £46.3m.

During the year the number of people attending the group‘s shows increased from 3.74 million to 4.63 million while its box office takings swelled from £210.4m to £304.7m.