The Electric Group will offer work to existing staff at The Leadmill in Sheffield when it takes over running the building from Phil Mills, the current tenant and operator of the venue, who lost an eviction legal battle in court last month. That’s according to David Walsh, business editor at local paper The Sheffield Star, who has been covering the legal battle for some time.
However, exactly when that might happen is currently unclear as the timeline for The Electric Group taking over running the venue remains uncertain, and depends on Mills’ next move in the long running and very bitter dispute between him and his landlord.
Mills has until 12 Mar to appeal last month’s court ruling, which saw judge Alastair Norris side with The Electric Group, which has owned the building that houses The Leadmill since 2016 and has been trying to take over direct management of the venue since 2022. If Mills decides not to proceed with an appeal, he will then have three months to vacate the premises.
However, if he appeals the judge’s ruling - and if that appeal is accepted - the eviction process will be paused. In a statement following last month’s judgement, Mills and his team vowed to “exhaust every possible legal avenue” before giving up on their legal battle with The Electric Group, which suggests that it’s fairly likely that he will go ahead and file an appeal.
Ever since Mills was first given twelve months notice to vacate the building in 2022, The Electric Group and its CEO Dominic Madden have been keen to stress that, at least in terms of programming and other projects, they anticipate running The Leadmill space in much the same way as it has operated under Mills.
And according to The Sheffield Star, The Electric Group has now committed to offer jobs to those already working for the venue. What remains uncertain, though, is how seamless any transfer between Mills and The Electric Group will be.
The Electric Group knows how to run venues and is already operating spaces in London, Bristol and Newcastle - and, of course, it previously secured its own licence from Sheffield City Council to operate The Leadmill. Which means in theory The Electric Group could get the space up and running pretty quickly - albeit under a new name, given Mills owns the Leadmill trademark.
A speedy transfer would obviously be beneficial for those Leadmill employees interested in continuing to work at the venue. Mills has also continued to book shows in, with listings on the venue’s website through to mid-December, and new shows still being regularly announced. Once up and running again, The Electric Group could presumably honour those bookings.
However, it is known that The Electric Group plans to refurbish the venue when it takes it over. Plus, Mills has threatened to gut the building before vacating the premises, basically returning the space to how it was before it first opened as a community centre in 1980.
Mills’ original plan was to even demolish a toilet block and external wall as part of that process, though he was denied planning permission from Sheffield City Council to make those changes.
When the eviction proceedings were in court there was much disagreement as to how much work The Electric Group will have to do to re-open the building, how much that will cost and how long it will take. But realistically, The Electric Group won’t really know for certain how much work needs to be done until Mills has gone and it can inspect the premises.
If Mills does go through with his plan to gut the building - toilet block and external wall demolition excluded - then he will successfully inconvenience his landlord, increasing the time and costs involved in refurbishing the venue, and making the point that he’s very unhappy to be forced out of the building.
However, he’ll also obviously inconvenience those Leadmill employees interested in working for The Electric Group and more of the performers currently booked in to play, which could damage his reputation within the local music community, which so far has, in the main, been very supportive of Mills and his team.