Sheffield’s iconic music venue Leadmll will stay put despite the landlord’s change of heart following the uproar of support for the venue when the landlord presented them with an eviction notice.
Managers announced on Thursday that they had received an eviction notice from the landlord, requiring them to vacate the facility by the end of the year.
But Dominic Madden, from Electric Group, has said as landlords they were “music people” and the Leadmill would continue “as a special music venue”, the BBC reports.
He continued, saying: “The management may change but the song stays the same.”
The Leadmill has been one of Yorkshire’s most iconic music venues for almost 40 years, hosting acts such as Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, The Stone Roses, and many more.
Scottish band Franz Ferdinand has called the venue, which is known as a “cultural institution”, a “rite of passage.”
Brixton-based Electric Group, which has owned the freehold for the Leadmill since 2017 call themselves an “independent music company” and owns a number of live music and club venues across the UK.
The company said: “There was never any question of us closing The Leadmill, despite all the social media chat. The refurb will make the room better equipped to accommodate the wants of modern live music and club night, for audiences and performers.”
On Thursday, the staff there said they had been told the “devastating news” that the landlord was evicting them and forcing them to close.
After the Electric Group’s statement the current management of Leadmill wrote a second statement on the venues social media page:
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In a second statement, the Leadmill said it was being “exterminated” by the landlord. “They are destroying our business by evicting us. They intend to profit from the goodwill and reputation built up over those 40 plus years.
“Millions of pounds have been spent by The Leadmill (not the Landlord) on the fabric of what was once a derelict building. It is the hard working, dedicated and local family of staff that have put 42 years worth of their blood, sweat and tears into making it the cultural asset it is today. Without The Leadmill, the building we currently occupy would be nothing more than a derelict old flour mill.”
Bands including Yorkshire born Kaiser Chiefs, comedians and gig-goers rushed to support the venue on social media.
They said closing the Leadmill would be a “huge loss not just for Sheffield and Yorkshire, but the whole UK music scene”.
Mr Madden and Jake Lewis, whose family owns the fashion retailer River Island, formed the Electric Group in a joint venture.
If you’d like to support the Leadmill a petition has been started here.
