The Showroom has had a long tradition of being a relaxed and informal cultural venue for independent cinema. Its staff have always been intelligent, polite and accommodating. In fact, it was always policy to hire people who were able to articulate themselves intelligently and sensitively and remain informed about art cinema and independent film making.

Since the restructuring new management have attempted to undermine these values by targeting flexibility, setting sale targets and forcing staff to "up-sell" products, providing rip-off kiosk services, ignoring input from long time staff and making "cost-cutting" changes that reduces staff which means unsatisfactory customer service. Here are just a few of the new "measures" the hotel managers who now run The Showroom have taken against staff:

- Firing members of staff for being ill.

- No written contracts for bar staff (even though this is in breach of employment law).

- Refusal to pay sick pay.

- Referral to staff as "natural wastage" in a staff/management meeting. (quoted from Ian Wild, CEO of SMEC)

- Voiding accrued holiday, expected and promised to staff.

- Breaching of contract by refusing to provide certain staff with contracted hours and refusal to follow disciplinary procedures.

- Illegally sacking Chris Lockwood on jumped up charges for union organising.


The Showroom staff love their job, they love their cinema and they love being apart of providing Sheffield with a venue for independent cinema but they cannot do their jobs if they are not listened to, cared about or considered. Support The Showroom, oppose its management.


“I started working in the cafe bar at The Showroom cinema in February 2008. To begin with I enjoyed every aspect of working there. I was hard working and well liked and had never had a problem with management. After the restructuring and the hiring of a new operations management team, it was not long before I became aware of the total lack of job security and accessing basic employee's benefits ie. sick pay and holiday pay. This new structure led to many questionable working 'methods' being put into place as well as some dubious tactics used to get rid of "unwanted" employee's. This included the reduction of full time staff to untenable hours, forcing them to leave their jobs to seek other employment. During a staff meeting we were referred to as "natural wastage", even though many of us worked 40 hours weeks to provide customer service for the company.

I joined IWW to learn more about my rights and entitlement as a worker in order to protect myself. I had also discussed with other workers the benefits of being in a union. In August I discovered that a rumour was circulating management about a union active in the work place and naming me as a union organiser. Less than a week after I had discovered this I was fired under ridiculous accusations of 'misconduct'. These included, primarily, not being able to use a till I had not been trained on and which was notoriously temperamental, turning music up and lights down in the bar. I was never advised of my rights during the meeting and the statutory disciplinary procedure was never brought against me. These measures are steps by management to undermine employee's rights and eradicate any perceived trouble from those expecting more.” - C. Lockwood


To protest the dismissal of Chris Lockwood contact -

Email:  info@showroom.org.uk,  commercial.admin@showroom.org.uk

Post: Showroom Cinema, Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX

Or Phone: 0114 276 3534 and ask to speak to Julie Simpson (or a member of the senior management team)