Dive Brief:

• European cinema operator Vue International appointed HX Expeditions alum James McArthur to the role of group CFO, effective Oct. 13, according to a Thursday press release sent to CFO Dive. The company — the largest privately-owned cinema operator in Europe, according to its website — offers cinema technologies such as large-format screens and is a competitor of IMAX. 
• McArthur’s appointment comes as the company embarks on a plan of expansion — as CFO, he will work closely with CEO and founder Tim Richards “to drive growth across the company at a time when Vue’s footprint across Europe continues to expand,” according to the Thursday press release.
• “I am thrilled and humbled to take on the huge role of CFO at Vue to work with Tim Richards CBE and the team,” McArthur said in a post on LinkedIn announcing his appointment.

Dive Insight:

McArthur has served as group CFO and chief transformation officer for the London-based HX Expeditions — a global expedition cruise company — since June 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile. His previous roles include a seven-year tenure at healthcare firm GenesisCare, serving in roles including deputy CFO and head of group business planning, as well as interim group CFO. He will take over as CFO after the previous finance chief CFO Alison Cornwell resigned from her position effective Feb. 28, according to Vue’s 2024 annual report.

As CFO, McArthur will step in as the company has taken several steps to foster growth, such as launching its “EPIC” product — a large screen format which utilizes Dolby Atmos sound system and includes an expanded partnership between Vue and laser projection firm Barco, in July, according to a company press release.

The company, which operates in eight countries — including the U.K. and Italy — across 223 sites and 1,959 screens, aims to roll out a minimum of 11 EPIC screens throughout the U.K., Italy and the Netherlands this year, according to the July release.

The company hopes to gain an edge over competitors in the field with its EPIC screens, notably IMAX — a company which CEO Richards described in an August interview with Forbes as “a marketing company now and not a technology company,” noting “most of their equipment is based on 10-year-old technology.”

McArthur’s appointment and Vue’s plans of expansion also come after the cinema operator, like many in the industry including IMAX, has looked to regain ground lost in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and other economic disruptions.

Vue embarked on a financial restructuring plan in Q1 for its fiscal 2024 after the Hollywood actors’ strike the prior year, which slowed film production and which had a material impact most felt in its full-year 2024 and early 2025 due to a lower number of completed films, according to its annual report for the fiscal year ended Nov. 30, 2024. The restructuring aimed to “enhance liquidity, reduce its senior loans, and enhance its capital structure,” according to the annual report.

Its 2024 restructuring included a debt-to-equity swap which infused cash of €58.7 million into the business and represented its second debt to equity exchange in recent years — in 2022, the company converted £465 million of debt into equity as part of a deal with its lenders Barings LLC and Farallon Capital Management LLC, according to a report by Bloomberg at the time.

Alongside its restructuring, Vue also saw several changes in leadership in 2024 — the company appointed Ian Fraser as the chair of the board in June 2024, following the resignation of the previous board chair, after it tapped Warner Brothers and Cineworld alum Matt Eyre as its chief operating officer that February, according to company documents.

In another executive appointment, this January the cinema operator appointed Eve Gabereau to serve as director of distribution for its newly-created distribution arm, Vue Lumière, according to a press release at the time.

Vue declined to comment on the appointment beyond its Thursday press release.