Sheffield’s Leadmill have lost their eviction court battle with landlord Electric Group, leaving the future of the iconic 900-capacity venue uncertain.
The venue’s operators, The Leadmill Ltd, who own the trademark for the venue’s name and branding, were served an eviction notice in March 2022. Following the court’s ruling on 19th February, The Leadmill issued a statement addressing their next steps.
‘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’, the venue wrote. ‘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’.
The venue, which opened in 1980, confirmed they are ‘actively consulting’ legal advisors and will ‘remain committed to exhausting every possible legal avenue to secure our future, retain our staff and protect our venue’.
Electric Group, who purchased the building’s freehold in 2017, have maintained their intention to continue operating the space as a music venue. However, Dominic Madden confirmed in his witness statement that should the eviction succeed, the space would no longer operate under The Leadmill name and current staff would be replaced.
The venue’s planned programming will continue as scheduled unless otherwise stated, with The Leadmill urging supporters to ‘continue to stand with us’ as they ‘navigate the next phase of this battle’.
The development follows the recent rejection of The Leadmill’s planning application to demolish parts of the venue if evicted. The planning officer described the proposed demolition as ‘purposeless’ and without public benefit.
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