Cinema admissions at the Stag fell from 44,877 to 35,973 in two years, FOI figures show. It lost £20,792 last year, and its £27,000 grant is due to go.
Cinema admissions at the Stag in Sevenoaks have fallen by a fifth in two years. Live shows are holding up better. The figures were obtained by Sevenoaks Online under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Stag made an operating loss of £20,792 in 2025/26, and £18,114 in the first six months of this year. That comes as Sevenoaks Town Council plans to stop its £27,000 annual grant to the venue, if it buys the freehold.
The town council answered our request on 2 November. The Stag is run by a separate legal entity, so the council says it obtained the theatre’s figures from the Stag on our behalf.
The audience
| Financial year | Live admissions | Live seats sold | Cinema admissions | Cinema seats sold | Total admissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 56,028 | 62.4% | 44,877 | 16.9% | 100,905 |
| 2024/25 | 65,767 | 52.3% | 40,628 | 15.5% | 106,395 |
| 2025/26 | 59,300 | 60.3% | 35,973 | 13.4% | 95,273 |
| 1 April to 26 October 2026 | 27,766 | 66.4% | 21,566 | 14.1% | 49,332 |
The cinema lost 8,904 admissions between 2023/24 and 2025/26, a fall of 19.8%. Last year it sold about one seat in every seven.
Live shows grew by 5.8% over the same two years. They peaked at 65,767 in 2024/25, although a smaller share of seats sold that year. So far this year, 66.4% of live seats have sold, the highest rate in the figures. That period does not include Christmas.
The money
| Income | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | April to September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance hire fees | £453,061 | £554,591 | £558,039 | £276,695 |
| Cinema ticket sales | £382,770 | £413,614 | £386,229 | £190,711 |
| Bar and kiosk sales | £225,021 | £287,098 | £284,654 | £128,252 |
| Donations and grants | £87,124 | £59,536 | £70,470 | £26,185 |
| Marketing income | £15,722 | £23,613 | £21,347 | £16,292 |
| Investment income | £7,064 | £15,090 | £13,127 | £6,544 |
| Youth outreach | £6,934 | £6,538 | £5,148 | £3,642 |
| Total income | £1,177,696 | £1,360,080 | £1,339,014 | £648,321 |
| Operating surplus or deficit | -£5,348 | £62,596 | -£20,792 | -£18,114 |
Fewer cinemagoers did not mean less cinema money. Ticket income was 0.9% higher in 2025/26 than two years earlier. By our calculation, it works out at £10.74 per admission, up from £8.53. The reply does not explain the change.
Over the three full years, the surpluses and deficits add up to a surplus of £36,456. This year’s £18,114 loss covers April to September only, so it leaves out the Christmas season.
What the town council pays
The town council’s spending on the Stag has been £28,000 a year in the budgets covered by the reply:
- a £27,000 grant towards operating costs
- £1,000 on a line labelled “Stag Reserve”
In 2025/26 it spent £45,000. The extra was £15,000 for a feasibility study and £2,000 for the Stag Youth Theatre to make a feature-length film.
The £27,000 grant was about 2% of the Stag’s income last year.
Two other payments came from Community Infrastructure Levy money, which is ring-fenced and kept apart from the town council’s revenue budget:
- £30,086.04 for solar panel batteries, June 2023
- £14,267.66 for a stage lighting upgrade, January 2024
The Stag’s own grants list also shows money from Sevenoaks District Council:
- £14,266 towards the theatre’s LED lights in 2023/24
- £3,300 as an employment boost grant in 2024/25
- £6,500 towards a laser projector in 2024/25
What it costs a household
We asked for the cost per band D household. The reply gives it as 2.8 pence for each of the first two years, 4.4 pence for 2025/26 and 3.1 pence this year.
Those figures appear to be in pounds, not pence. £28,000 is 2.04% of the town council’s 2023/24 precept of £1,370,074. And 2.04% of that year’s £139.17 band D charge is £2.84, not 2.8p.
Our own sums, from the council’s figures, are below. They use the town council’s share of the bill only.
| Financial year | Spent on the Stag | Precept | Share of precept | Band D town council charge | Stag cost per band D home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | £28,000 | £1,370,074 | 2.0% | £139.17 | £2.84 |
| 2024/25 | £28,000 | £1,437,614 | 1.9% | £145.33 | £2.83 |
| 2025/26 | £45,000 | £1,545,417 | 2.9% | £153.67 | £4.47 |
| 2026/27 | £28,000 | £1,624,084 | 1.7% | £161.19 | £2.78 |
The reply puts this year’s share at 1.9%. On its own figures we make it 1.7%. We will update this page if the town council gives different numbers.
What the freehold plan changes
The town council wants to buy the Stag’s freehold from Sevenoaks District Council for £650,000. Its plan has three parts (Sevenoaks Town Council):
- £350,000 from a Public Works Loan
- £200,000 from its capital reserves
- £100,000 from community donations
To avoid raising its share of council tax, it says it “would stop providing the Stag with an annual grant of £27,000 and instead use this money for the loan repayments”. More than £117,000 had been pledged by 1 October.
The reply does not say how the Stag would replace that grant. It also does not say whether the deficits are worked out before or after grants, although the income table includes a donations and grants line. If last year’s deficit already counts the grant, losing £27,000 would have taken it to about £47,800.
The district council’s Cabinet minutes of 20 October say the current lease has about ten years left at a peppercorn rent. They also say a further 35-year peppercorn lease has since been offered. (Sevenoaks District Council, Cabinet minutes)
What it means for you
If you live in Sevenoaks town and pay band D, the Stag costs you about £2.78 of this year’s £161.19 town council charge. Our council tax bands page shows how that fits into your whole bill.
If the freehold deal goes ahead, the town council’s plan keeps that money in the budget but sends it to the loan. The Stag would then have to cover the £27,000 from its own income or from other funders.
The town council has not given a completion date for the purchase. We will report it when it does. Our earlier reports cover the June offer, the Cabinet decision and the pledge appeal.
Sources
- Sevenoaks Town Council, response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to a request from Sevenoaks Online, 2 November 2026 (spreadsheet covering 2023/24 to 2026/27; income to 30 September 2026, admissions to 26 October 2026)
- Sevenoaks Town Council, Stag freehold fundraiser launch, 2 September 2026
- Sevenoaks Town Council, £100,000 pledge target achieved, 1 October 2026
- Sevenoaks District Council, Cabinet minutes, 20 October 2026
Image: The Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks, by Chris Whippet, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph. Charts by Sevenoaks Online.
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