Sheffield’s Leadmill loses eviction court battle with landlord – but vow to fight on

Sheffield’s Leadmill has lost its eviction court battle with its landlord, leaving its future uncertain – the iconic has venue has issued a statement promising that it will continue to fight on.

• READ MORE: If Sheffield’s Leadmill – the venue that helped break Arctic Monkeys – goes, we all lose something

Electric Group, the owners of the 900-capacity venue’s building, served an eviction notice on their tenants The Leadmill Ltd in March 2022, which sparked an outcry across the music industry and from gig-goers. The Leadmill Ltd own the trademark for the venue’s name – meaning a new venue in a different building could retain the name and branding of the original.

Since first opening its doors in 1980, the venue has hosted early shows from Arctic Monkeys, Kings Of Leon and The Killers, and remains a popular live music and clubbing spot.

Last night (February 19), The Leadmill issued a statement on social media regarding the court’s ruling against the venue in favour of its landlords. The Leadmill wrote: “While this is a challenging and upsetting moment for our venue, we want to reassure our supporters, artists, and the wider community that there is no immediate timeline for what happens next.”

With no clear path forward currently, The Leadmill says it is “actively consulting” its legal advisors and will “remain committed to exhausting every possible legal avenue to secure our future, retain our staff and protect our venue.”

The court battle isn’t just about saving the venue, The Leadmill says: “It’s personal. The Leadmill isn’t just bricks and mortar; it’s a home. Many of our team have grown up here, worked here for over 15 years and dedicated our lives to creating incredible events and experiences. We are real people, with a deep love for what we do, and we never imaged we’d be facing something like this. But we are in it together, doing everything we can to fight for the place that means so much to us and to so many others.”

Noting the cultural impact of the venue and the support it has received since news of the eviction first broke, The Leadmill reiterated it’s “more than just a venue”: “It is a cultural institution with a 45-year history of nurturing artists, supporting grassroots music, and providing a vital space for creativity in Sheffield and beyond.”

The venue also confirmed with patrons and anyone who has a ticket to upcoming shows and events at the space that all planned programming will proceed as scheduled unless otherwise states.

In its closing remarks, The Leadmill urged its supporters to “continue to stand with us” as they “navigate the next phase of this battle”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Leadmill, Sheffield (@theleadmill)

Though nothing has been confirmed, The Leadmill’s Phil Mills said in December it could possibly move to a new location if evicted, though that wouldn’t be its primary option despite owning the trademark rights to The Leadmill’s name and branding: “If we found a suitable premises in Sheffield we would effectively be competing against ourselves because The Leadmill’s name and legacy is indivisible in our customers’ minds,” he said.

The update comes just days after The Leadmill’s planning application to demolish certain parts of the venue if evicted was rejected.  The venue’s current tenant, Mills, previously said he intended to “gut” the premises of its current fixtures and fittings – including the dancefloor and stage – if forced to vacate the building.

The planning officer who rejected the proposed demolition described it as “purposeless” and without public benefit, adding that if evicted, tenants should “return the building complex to the condition it was in prior to the lease being taken up.”

After news of it coming under threat emerged in 2022, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited The Leadmill and encouraged others to “get behind it. He also echoed the views of countless Sheffield locals, hailing it as “the heart of the city”, as well as the stance held by Arctic Monkeys, Jarvis Cocker and Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes among the Sheffield artists to have spoken out in support of the venue.

Sheffield’s Richard Hawley has also been a vocal supporter of The Leadmill for years now – having played a number of gigs there throughout 2022 to raise money and awareness. Some of his shows also saw him joined on stage by fellow Sheffield artists Jarvis Cocker and Rebecca Taylor (aka Self Esteem).

Electric Group, a joint venture between Dominic Madden and Jacob Lewis that also owns London’s Electric Brixton, Bristol’s SWX and Newcastle’s NX, bought the site’s freehold in 2017 and shortly afterwards said they had no intention of closing the venue when they ended the current occupiers’ lease. However, the site’s management soon hit back, arguing that they were being “exterminated by the landlord”.

The Leadmill’s management then launched an appeal to fans, asking for support after revealing that landlords were reportedly moving forward with eviction plans in 2023. Electric Group’s Dominic Madden responded at the time by doubling down on claims that they “intend to continue operating the space as a music venue, focussing on a diverse mix of gigs, club nights and comedy events.”

Madden confirmed in his witness statement that if he succeeded in his eviction, the space would no longer be called ‘The Leadmill’ and all current staff would be replaced. He also stated that he would be evicting the workshop users if he succeeded, putting an end to the tenancies of those still working from The Leadmill.

Speaking to NME about the history behind the venue in February 2023, Hawley said that the staff who’ve built up the venue over the years should be allowed to continue running it under the same name.

“The upsetting thing is that if it was a failing business, I’d understand that someone would take it over. What angers me is that it doesn’t surprise me that greedy fuckers buy the land from underneath them. If they threw [the venue staff] out and turned it into flats, it would be an absolute tragedy but slightly easier to accept,” he said.

“The fact that what they’ve basically done is bought the land from underneath them, issued them with an eviction notice, and are going to steal their business. That to me is wildly immoral. If I was running a venue, or even a chip shop, I’d think, ‘Hold on a sec, if they get away with it with these, then who’s next?’ It’s just wrong.”

The post Sheffield’s Leadmill loses eviction court battle with landlord – but vow to fight on appeared first on NME.