Heritage
The Venue & The Jay Family
The Empire is owned by the Jay family, who also own and produce the world-famous Hippodrome Circus—Britain’s only surviving dedicated circus building and water show.
The Jays are well known for their epic seasonal circus productions, including Pirates Live at Easter, the Summer Spectacular, the Halloween Spooktacular, and the Christmas Spectacular.
A Century of Entertainment
Located on Marine Parade, the Empire Theatre opened in 1911 and stands as one of Great Yarmouth’s most resilient entertainment landmarks.
Designed by architect Arthur Samuel Hewitt, it was originally constructed as the town's second purpose-built cinema.
The Jay family acquired the building in 1947, transitioning it into a lively venue that hosted everything from a bingo hall to late-night movies and morning cartoons. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it briefly returned to a full-time cinema before transforming into a popular nightclub in the 2000s. In 2020, following extensive post-COVID redesigns, the Jay family revitalised the building as a thriving independent live music, craft beer, and street food destination, which operated successfully for the next five years.
Exciting new use
In 2021, the Hippodrome Circus welcomed The Flying Comets for its Christmas production. During an epic New Year's Eve celebration, trapeze catcher Mathew Herman first suggested installing a permanent flying trapeze rig in the Empire Theatre to director Jack Jay. Unfortunately, the music may have been a little too loud.
Mat later founded Steal This Circus CIC, while touring traditional circus productions across the UK and Europe. The company focuses on building professional circus equipment, increasing access to flying trapeze for disadvantaged areas, and helping recreational flyers progress into professional performance careers.
In September 2025, rising operating costs led the Jay family to announce the closure of The Empire. Mat packed his touring bags and moved to Great Yarmouth the next day. With generous support from Out There Arts, he established himself in Great Yarmouth as a stubborn fixture, proceeding to annoy the Jay family at every opportunity.
After months of conversations, planning meetings, and site visits, the Jay’s finally agreed to let him install a full-time circus training facility in the building. Using only already existing anchor points, and very careful measurements, the new installations will leave the existing beauty and heritage of this landmark building completely unchanged.
