The Prince Charles Cinema, on a side street off Leicester Square, is one of central London’s few independent cinemas. In the touristy West End, the cinema is a beacon for film lovers, attracting 250,000 people a year to its two screens which often screen cult and classic films. Now, however, it’s under threat from its property developer landlord.

The Prince Charles rents the building from Zedwell LSQ Ltd, a subsidiary company of Criterion Capital, on a long-term lease basis. Last week, the cinema released a statement and accompanying petition detailing Zedwell LSQ’s attempts to include a break-clause in its upcoming lease renewal. This would mean the cinema could be evicted with six months notice “should [Zedwell LSQ] receive planning permission to redevelop the building, which we interpret as a clear intention to do so”. According to the statement, Zedwell LSQ has additionally demanded a rent increase to a level beyond market rates that “no cinema proprietor would consider reasonable.”

Zedwell LSQ and Criterion Capital are part of the property development empire of Asif Aziz, whose companies have form in closing down much loved community assets, in particular pubs. It’s not the only important cultural venue under threat from Criterion at the moment, with campaigners fighting to save the world’s first YMCA in central London from the company at the High Court.

Aziz is the founder and former CEO of Criterion, and remains CEO of Zedwell. On LinkedIn, Criterion’s page often talks about its hotel chains, like Zedwell Hotels, and Assembly Hotel, which it says is “prioritising travel for Gen Z”, and whose Head Designer is Darija Aziz, Aziz’s partner. In 2016-17, Criterion Capital donated to both Labour and the Conservatives, including a £50,000 donation to Labour.

For years, little was known about the publicity-shy Aziz. In 2011, Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh shed a little light on his background as she campaigned for one of Aziz’s companies to sell an office block for redevelopment. Speaking to parliament, she said that Aziz is from Malawi “and his fortune is thought to have been made in Angola” in the 1980s. “Aged 16, he is said to have turned up in London one day, out of nowhere, to buy property in an auction. He has been accumulating more and more property ever since.”

In 2005, Aziz bought the Trocadero, and was dubbed “Mr West End” by the Evening Standard, which reported, “Aziz is a highly secretive figure. He has never granted a press interview and no photographs of him have been published. He spends just a few days a month in the UK, dividing the rest of his time between his business interests in Africa and South America.” Since then, and following extensive scrutiny of his companies’ business practices, he has appeared in a few puff pieces courtesy of obliging publications.

In one such article in City AM, he said his “home” is “Shaftesbury Avenue, the heart of theatreland. Nothing beats staying right in the middle of the West End, but it can also be hard to get a good night’s sleep with all the activity around you 24/7.” Presumably he’s more a fan of stage than screen.

The 2005 Standard article added that Golfrate, the firm that he set up which acquired the Trocadero, “is based in the offshore tax haven of the Isle of Man and is owned by a private family trust.” The current Golfrate Property Management Ltd is registered in the UK, but much of the property it manages is owned by companies based in the Isle of Man like Hamna Wakaf Ltd, Manlon Properties Ltd, Sartorio Ltd, and dozens of other companies registered at the same address.

By the 2010s, Golfrate was becoming known in the pub industry for buying old pubs, raising the rents to unaffordable levels, and then applying to develop the buildings into luxury flats. Private Eye reported in 2016 that casualties of Golfrate’s avarice included The White Swan in Charlton, Lewisham’s only gay bar Two8Six, and many others. (The magazine also reported that the Met police’s proceeds of corruption unit had obtained search warrants to investigate Golfrate on suspicion of money laundering in 2013, but Golfrate “successfully had the warrants judicially reviewed and quashed.”)

In 2022, Novara Media reported that a similar fate had befallen The Junction, a much loved jazz bar in South London. It seems that Aziz was not very happy with this last article. Over a year later, in response to a request for comment on a different article in a different publication, he instructed his lawyers to threaten one of the authors of this piece with legal action if Novara Media’s article was not taken down. Meanwhile a PR agent contacted Novara Media claiming that it was a case of mistaken identity and there was a different “distantly related” Asif Aziz closing down London pubs. He was, however, unable to pursue any case as the statute of limitations for defamation in the UK is one year. Aziz’s lawyers insist that he is not personally responsible for closing down any pubs.

The ownership structure of the Aziz family’s property empire remains opaque. Many of the companies that own land being developed by Criterion Capital formerly listed their ultimate beneficial owner as a Cayman Islands company, or a South African asset manager. These companies now list John Anthony Murphy, who acts as a nominated director for various Isle of Man based companies, and was listed in the Paradise Papers offshore leak, indicating that he has been a nominated director for other offshore companies for some time. Companies House says Murphy has “significant influence or control over the trustees of a trust”, which indicates that Criterion is part of a family trust.

These days, Aziz would prefer to be known more for his philanthropic charity, The Aziz Foundation, than for his property empire. The foundation funds students from Muslim backgrounds to attend university, and has also been donating to a number of Labour MPs. In 2024, the Aziz Foundation donated £16,000 to Naz Shah, £18,414 to Afzal Khan, and £23,302.50 to Chi Onwurah. All these donations funded staff, on Aziz Foundation placements, to work in MPs offices.

Aziz has clearly made a fortune from his London property development empire, and appears to be leveraging this wealth into some kind of political influence. He is also keen to be seen as a leading Muslim entrepreneur, helping to turn on London’s Ramadan light display with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in 2024. However, this image is continually undermined by the actions of his companies who are responsible for the closure of various beloved cultural venues.

The petition in support of the Prince Charles calls on Zedwell LSQ and Criterion Capital to renew its lease without the inclusion of the break clause. It reached its initial target of 75,000 signatures within its first day, and now has nearly 150,000 signatures. Based on the overwhelming public support for the cinema, it’s reasonable to assume that, should they turn to their last resort of pursuing legal action, they wouldn’t struggle to crowd-fund additional costs.

Aziz’s aversion to being blamed for the closure of pubs suggests that being considered responsible for the increased precarity of a beloved independent cinema would appeal even less. With this in mind, it’s hard not to conclude that this affair represents something of an own goal for both Criterion Capital and media-shy Aziz, given the increased scrutiny that they will likely be subject to as a result.

The public battle for the future of the Prince Charles is just beginning, but the cinema might take comfort from the fate of one Golfrate-managed pub, the China Hall in Rotherhithe. That pub has been saved after a battle between Southwark Council and Hamna Wakaf Ltd, which illegally turned the pub into flats. Campaigns against the redevelopment of Aziz-linked properties can be successful, and there’s every reason to hope the fight over the Prince Charles will have a Hollywood ending.

Criterion Capital did not respond to Novara Media’s request for comment.