The current operator of The Leadmill in Sheffield has been denied planning permission to remove toilet facilities and another wall as part of plans to “gut” the venue before handing it back to the building's landlord. The planning decision comes alongside a report by the Sheffield Tribune that a judge has sided with that landlord, The Electric Group, in an eviction dispute.
Current operator Phil Mills has been involved in an acrimonious legal and PR battle with The Electric Group ever since the landlord - which already runs venues in London, Bristol and Newcastle - announced in 2022 that it wanted to directly run the Sheffield venue too, giving Mills one year to vacate the premises.
The legal battle ended up in the Leeds Business & Property Court last year after Mills refused to leave the building and The Electric Group instigated formal eviction proceedings.
Although a formal judgement is yet to be published in relation to that court case, The Tribune says it “understands that The Leadmill has lost its legal battle with its landlord and will have to leave the iconic building”. The Sheffield news site adds that “word is already spreading among the venue’s staff” about that outcome to the legal battle.
It was during one of last year’s court hearings that Mills discussed his plan to “gut” the venue if he was forced to leave the building, basically removing facilities he had added during his long-running tenancy. To prepare for that eventuality he applied for planning permission from Sheffield City Council, saying that changes needed to be made to the building in order to return it to “pre-leasing condition”.
A recent report from Sheffield City Council’s planning department explains that those proposed changes involved “the demolition of a toilet block and bin store on Leadmill Road together with the complete demolition of a two storey brick infill extension on Suffolk Road”.
Despite Mills’ rationale for the changes, the planning department said “there is no justification for the demolition in structural or any other terms and the works will clearly negatively affect the functioning of the existing business”. The department’s report conceded that “sufficient floorspace” would remain for the lost facilities to be restored, but, it concluded, “essentially the demolition seems purposeless”.
With that in mind, and with particular concerns that the removal of the “infill extension” would “break up” the building’s “continuous frontage to the detriment of the strength and character of the building line”, the planning department recommended that the Council refuse planning permission. Which it duly did.
Although it’s obviously annoying for The Electric Group if Mills removes facilities it will still require when running the space, the landlord insisted in court that it had the finances in place to do any refurbishments required to re-open the venue.
Given it’s thought Mills now plans to open an alternative Leadmill venue elsewhere in Sheffield, or possibly in another city, the landlord may also want to rebrand the existing venue when it re-opens.