Police have called for the Academy's licence to be revoked following the fatal crowd crush at the London venue last December
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NTIA launches campaign to save Brixton Academy
The Night-Time Industries Association is urging people to submit representations of support for the venue to Lambeth Council by 15 May
By James Hanley on 11 May 2023
O2 Academy Brixton
The UK’s Night-Time Industries Association (NTIA) has launched a campaign to save O2 Academy Brixton from closure.
The future of the 5,000-cap Academy Music Group (AMG) venue is under threat after police applied to Lambeth Council seeking the revocation of the venue’s licence, having “lost confidence in the premises licence holder” following the events of 15 December 2022, when two people died in a crush at a show by singer/songwriter Asake.
An online petition launched to save the London venue by concert-goer Stuart O’Brien has attracted almost 100,000 signatures, and the NTIA is now urging people to show the importance of the Academy by submitting representations of support to the council by midnight on Monday 15 May.
It has formulated a letter for representation on its system for supporters to sign and submit to the authority.
“Without this venue in London, we would see a huge void in our cultural economy, a considerable gap in touring capability, loss of jobs and one less platform for headline domestic and international artists to perform, losing out to our international counterparts,” reads the letter.
“The potential impact of this closure would have huge ramification within the local economy”
“This venue is a huge talent bed for new artists, and for many performing within this space, it has been a turning point within their career, with many artists today citing this space as one of their pinnacle career moments.
“The potential impact of this closure would have huge ramification within the local economy, recent research has shown that we are already seeing an estimated 1/2 million pounds worth of lost revenue being suffered by local businesses every week since its temporary closure, with some unable to weather the suspension period.”
It continues: “I have not lost sight of the tragic incident that occurred in December , but would respectfully ask you to consider working with AMG and the venue to learn from what has happened and enhance the licence to ensure that this could never happens again.
“At this moment I would urge all involved to step forward and engage in productive and meaningful discussions, with an aim to resolve the current challenges and present a unified position on delivering the safe and effective management of this space in the future.”
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