The dispute over who should get to run Sheffield’s Leadmill venue - the current management team or the building's landlord Electric Group - is back in court this week, with the costs involved in Electric Group taking it over very much in the spotlight.
Demonstrating how far he is willing to go in order to stay, current venue operator Phil Mills says that he plans to gut the premises if he is forced to leave. As part of that plan, he has filed for planning permission from the council to demolish the venue’s toilet block in order to “return the building to pre-leasing condition”, according to the Sheffield Star.
Mills and his team have been clear from the start that, if they are forced to leave the building, they plan to leave it as they found it, with all the fittings they have added over the years removed.
If that plan goes ahead, the costs for Electric Group to get the building up and running again as a venue would be substantial and immediate. So much so, lawyers working for Mills have suggested that Electric Group would not have the necessary funds to get the venue operational.
That’s not true, says Electric Group, and the numbers Mills is proposing are based on “absurdly overcooked” estimates of the possible refurbishment costs.
According to the BBC, Electric Group boss Dominic Madden told the court this week that the numbers cited by Mills’ team “seem illogical”. They reckoned the costs could top £4.7 million, but Madden’s own estimates come in more like £2 million. “I still think that’s right”. Madden added, “even with the future work required if Mr Mills decides to take things out”.
The Electric Group, which already owns venues in London, Bristol and Newcastle, bought the building that houses The Leadmill in 2016. In March 2022 it told long-time Leadmill operator Phil Mills that it planned to take over running the space directly, giving Mills twelve months to vacate the premises.
However, Mills continues to operate the venue while running a high profile ‘Save The Leadmill’ campaign against Electric Group. Madden’s company ultimately went legal to evict Mills. The case got to court in May this year, before being adjourned to this week.
Mills’ team have raised an assortment of arguments while trying to fight the Electric Group’s eviction order, at least some of which have focused more on the importance of The Leadmill’s role in Sheffield’s music scene than the legal rights of the landlord to take control of the building.
The suggestion that an Electric Group-run Leadmill would likely stand idle for quite some time pending the necessary refurbishments is presumably part of that narrative.
Leeds Business & Property Court was told by Mills’ lawyers that Electric Group’s accounts did not suggest it had the necessary funds to pay for the refurbishment work. But Madden insisted that his company is “extremely profitable”, while adding that his business partner Jacob Lewis has agreed to provide up to £3 million to fund any refurbishment. Lewis himself added it “could be more”.
Madden told the court, “The suggestion it takes years to do all of these things is just not the case. We are funded, we are going to do it. We have got complete confidence that we can proceed with our refurbishment plan”.
A final decision on The Electric Group’s eviction order isn't expected until the new year.