THE Glasgow Times is featuring the six candidates hoping to be voted Glasgow's Favourite Business for 2024.  

This year's nominees are Boveda Hair & Beauty, Café Gandolfi, Clyde 1, Glasgow Film Theatre, Nursery Story and Waverley Excursions Ltd.  

The award, sponsored by this paper, is part of the Glasgow Business Awards organised by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.   

"WHILE there’s nothing wrong with Deadpool versus Wolverine or any of those Marvel movies, they’re not out raison d’etre,” Allison Gardner says of Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT).  

"We’re here to show films that are not getting the space."

As CEO of the independent cinema, she says it's a "huge honour" for the independent cinema to be nominated for Glasgow’s Favourite Business and she’s "proud" for all their staff. 

"It’s lovely because we do know our audience appreciates us but it's nice to get that recognition for the hard work everyone does," she says.  

(Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)

The Rose Street building opened as the Cosmo, Scotland’s first arts cinema, in 1939 with GFT being created in 1974, meaning it celebrated 85th and 50th anniversaries this year. 

In 2024, GFT also held the 20th edition of the Glasgow Film Festival.  

Allison said: "I think those anniversaries lined up really nicely to show the longevity of the love people in this city have for this particular building and the type of film we show here." 

She continued: "The audiences love us, and they need us and unfortunately many cinemas are closing. 

"Even if you come twice a year or twice a week it's really important you continue to come to the cinema as you’re watching stuff in that shared communal space of emotion, drama, laughter, fear you can't replicate at home.

"For me, cinema is truly still important."

(Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)

Allison says she believes the GFT is "crucial" to the city because they show films other cinemas aren’t and says during a troubling time in history "film is an empathy machine".  

She said: "We are a truly independent cinema, we’re a not-for-profit educational charity, things that are becoming rarer now and our job is to genuinely curate cinema for all.  

"It’s really important that everybody has the opportunity to watch great films from across the world.  

"It’s important now more than ever especially because I think film creates empathy and especially the films we show because we’re showing films from across the world from people from different religions, customs, eating habits, ways of living."

She added: "We’ve always sat around the campfire and told stories – that's essentially what the cinema is, it’s a high-tech version of that and we should never forget that because it’s what makes us human sharing those emotions together."

Allison first joined GFT as a duty manager back in 1993, before becoming CEO on April 1, 2020, shortly after lockdown was introduced in the UK because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

For all her years at the cinema, one thing Allison remains most proud of is how GFT looked after its staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

She added: "We paid all our staff 100% of their wages.  

"If they were furloughed, we were able to claim the 80% but we topped up people’s wages but for me that was really important, and I think that was the right thing to do. 

"That was a proud moment."

The winner of The Glasgow Times Award for Glasgow's Favourite Business will be revealed at the annual Glasgow Business Awards at the DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central on Thursday, October 3, 2024. Voting closes at midnight on August 30, 2024.  

Place your vote for The Glasgow Times Award for Glasgow's Favourite Business HERE or www.glasgowbusinessawards.com/glasgows-favourite-business-poll/.