A judge has told the current operators of The Leadmill venue in Sheffield that they have exhausted their legal options to avoid being forced to leave the venue, as the courts refused permission for the Leadmill team to appeal the eviction order secured by their landlord The Electric Group. As a result, they now have just three months to vacate the premises - hopefully without smashing up the toilets on the way out.
“This is a heartbreaking moment not just for our team but for the entire Sheffield community”, the venue said in a statement on social media yesterday evening.
The Electric Group, which plans to directly operate the venue itself, won an eviction order against the current operators, led by Phil Mills, back in February. The court’s decision to not allow an appeal, the venue’s statement continues, “allows our landlord to proceed with plans to take over the empty building and will result in the loss of over 70 jobs”.
The Electric Group previously confirmed to the Sheffield Star’s Dan Walsh that it would offer work to existing staff at the venue when it takes over.
Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the future of the venue in recent months, Mills’ team has continued to book shows through to April next year, according to listings on the venue’s website.
While The Electric Group may now look to take over some of those bookings, the statement last night said that the current team “have plans in place to continue our programme of events at other venues across the city”, adding, “we will be in touch with all ticket holders in due course. All tickets remain valid and we are committed to ensuring clear communication and a smooth transition for every event”.
Reflecting on the outcome of their years long legal battle with The Electric Group, and what they might do next, the current Leadmill team said, “We’ve fought tirelessly to protect this independent venue which has supported countless artists, musicians and creatives for over four decades”.
“Today's decision feels like a betrayal of the cultural fabric of our city”, they added. “We are devastated, but not defeated. This is not the end of The Leadmill’s spirit - it’s a call to action for everyone who believes in the importance of independent culture. We will regroup, rebuild and continue”.
The Electric Group - which runs existing venues in London, Bristol and Newcastle - acquired the building that houses The Leadmill in 2016. It told Mills that it planned to take over running the venue in 2022, giving him and his team a year to vacate the premises.
Mills responded with a multi-layered legal and PR campaign that aimed to avoid eviction. The PR aspects of the campaign - which garnered lots of support from the Sheffield music community - have been pretty successful, but the legal side less so.
After the Leadmill team made it clear that it would not leave without a fight, The Electric Group ultimately launched formal eviction proceedings, securing an eviction order in February.
In a court submission seeking permission to appeal, Mills argued that his dispute with The Electric Group was “an important test case affecting every business tenant in the country”, because his landlord was planning on unfairly capitalising on the good reputation he had built while running the venue.
He had made that argument before, at one point calling on the UK government to change the law and suspend Section 25 of the Landlord And Tenant Act - which governs both commercial and residential leases - saying that the law could be “exploited by landlords, allowing them to expropriate the investment the tenant has made into the premises, including any goodwill developed over many years”.
That call for a change to the law went unheeded, and the courts clearly didn’t accept the argument that those concerns justified allowing Mill’s legal dispute with his landlord to go to appeal.
Assuming Mills and his team now vacate on the timeline set by the courts, The Electric Group will start running the venue from later this year. It previously said it would run it in a similar fashion to Mills, albeit under a different name, and after some sort of refurbishment.
Mills clearly has ambitions to continue what he started at The Leadmill elsewhere, with yesterday’s statement concluding, “while The Leadmill’s future at its current location may be coming to a close, we vow to continue fighting for independent music and culture in Sheffield”.