Hi,

This is the first in what I hope will be a regular blog about the restoration of The Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley.

I’m Paul Homer, the Chief Executive of the Phoenix Cinema Trust, though my colleagues may also be blogging about the project.

Well, we’re almost there. It’s taken 3 years of detailed planning, 2 years of intense fundraising and countless stress for lots of people but as I write this we are very close to having the builders on site.

We have a few meetings coming up in the next week or so at which we’ll iron out the remaining issues, but we have now appointed the builders – Durkan. So we’re working through some final budgetary issues and some design elements.

We should know soon the exact date for the work to start, but it’s looking like Mid-March.

We’ll keep you informed.