x

The latest industry news to your inbox.


I'd like to hear about marketing opportunities

    

I accept IQ Magazine's Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Leadmill owner refutes concerns from management

The new owner of legendary UK music venue The Leadmill has responded to management’s fresh appeal for support of their anti-eviction campaign.

Since opening its doors in 1980, the Sheffield venue and club has hosted the likes of Pulp, Coldplay, The Stone Roses and Oasis, as well as early shows from Arctic Monkeys, Kings Of Leon and The Killers.

Last year, the venue’s management announced that it was facing threat of closure due to its landlord issuing a notice of eviction.

The Leadmill is owned by Electric Group — which also own London’s Electric Brixton, Bristol’s SWX and Newcastle’s NX.

The Group bought the site’s freehold in 2017 and previously told music fans that they had no intention of closing the venue when they end the current occupiers’ lease in 2023. “The management may change but the song stays the same,” Dominic Madden, CEO and co-founder of Electric Group, wrote on Twitter.

The management, however, hit back, arguing that they were being “exterminated by the landlord”. Yesterday (May 17), they made a new appeal to fans, asking for support after revealing that landlords were reportedly moving forward with eviction plans.

Posting on The Leadmill’s website, management wrote that the “general public are able to object to a premises licence application if they are aware of any relevant reasons as to why it should not be granted”.

“We recognise the roots of the Leadmill within the community and we are determined to see it succeed and thrive”

Now, Electric Group’s Madden has issued a fresh statement in response: “We have owned the Leadmill premises since 2017. With the current lease coming to an end, Electric Group has applied for a licence application as part of the transition process.

“As we have always maintained, we intend to continue operating the space as a music venue, focussing on a diverse mix of gigs, club nights and comedy events. We’re an independent music venue operator which is committed to music and investing in venues. We have been running licensed venues since 2003 and have never had any issue or license review.

“Our venues in London, Newcastle and Bristol host hundreds of gigs and events every year for thousands of music fans. Our team has many years of experience running venues, producing theatre and promoting gigs. When we purchased the freehold for the Leadmill in 2017 it was threatened with redevelopment into flats. We didn’t want that to happen, so we stepped in to buy it and save it – something the leaseholder was not prepared to do.

“The current Leadmill campaign is unfortunately misleading people into thinking we want to close the venue with no regard for its history. That is not the case. In fact, we want to invest in the future of the space – albeit one which will mark the start of a new chapter for a building which has many generations of history with a variety of different operators since it was first a flour mill.

“We hope to be a great custodian of the venue for the next generation. We recognise the roots of the Leadmill within the community and we are determined to see it succeed and thrive.”

 

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Iconic UK music venue The Leadmill faces closure

Legendary live music venue The Leadmill says it is facing closure next year after its landlord issued a notice of eviction.

Since opening its doors in 1980, the Sheffield venue and club has hosted the likes of Pulp, Coldplay, The Stone Roses and Oasis, as well as early shows from Arctic Monkeys, Kings Of Leon and The Killers.

Venue bosses yesterday (31 March) said their landlord had served them with an eviction notice requiring them to leave the building next year.

“Today we have received some devastating news that in one year’s time, our landlord is trying to evict us, forcing us to close,” reads a statement on the venue’s website.

“Since 1980 The Leadmill has spent millions of pounds on what was a derelict warehouse, transforming it into one of the UK’s most respected venues where countless acts from across the globe have performed over the years,” it continued.

Dominic Madden from landlord Electric Group told BBC they were “music people” and the Leadmill would continue “as a special music venue”. “The management may change but the song stays the same.”

“The management may change but the song stays the same”

Brixton-based Electric Group is an independent music company that owns a number of the UK’s most iconic live music and club venues.

The Leadmill has asked people to show their support by sharing the news and “your best memories that we can gather to help show them reasons why #WeCantLoseLeadmill”. Live music associations, fans, artists and even an MP have lent their support to the campaign.

Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd called for the council to “immediately implement an Asset of Community Value status on the premises as the first step in ensuring the venue is initially protected from closure.”

“MVT will be working to ensure that once protected from immediate threat, the long-term future is secured,” he continued.

“Once again, the issue of who owns the premises rises to front and centre of the campaign to protect, secure and improve the UK’s grassroots music venues. The answer is that not a single venue in the country, no matter how important, is safe until we Own Our Venues.”

UK Music’s Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, says: “The Leadmill is an irreplaceable part of the cultural fabric of Sheffield and the whole UK music scene. It has nurtured some of our world-leading acts and been at the heart of the city’s musical life for decades. It cannot be allowed to close.”

“We also want local business leaders who benefit from the trade that The Leadmill brings to the city to work with the local community, music fans and the council to safeguard this jewel in the crown of our music scene,” continues Njoku-Goodwin.

“We will be supporting the work of the Music Venue Trust, which is already fighting to save this vital national asset. Losing The Leadmill would be a devastating blow to Sheffield and to the whole music industry – we must fight to save it.”

 

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.