(Credits: Far Out / The Leadmill)
Mon 24 February 2025 12:41, UK
When the news finally broke, it felt like a punch to Sheffield music lovers who had been winding up for three years. In March 2022, the landlords of the iconic Sheffield venue, The Leadmill, handed in an eviction notice. Since then, the venue, local gig-goers and artists have pined together in a long slog attempt at keeping things as they are, but all of this came to no avail, and it was found this week that the eviction notice stands and The Leadmill will be closing its doors.
“It’s personal,” wrote The Leadmill in a statement. “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 […] We are in it together, doing everything we can to fight for the place that means so much to us and to so many others.”
Growing up in Hull, despite The Leadmill only being about 70 miles away, it felt like it existed on the other side of the world. It was a mythical place, the kind of venue where the best bands in the country would rally to play before making it big. You always heard the stories the moment you dipped your toes in music, as whispers of Arctic Monkeys, Pulp and every indie band worth a damn had earned their stripes taking to that iconic stage.
Now, after living in Sheffield for nearly ten years, The Leadmill still means just as much to me as it did before I had ever attended. It’s the home of nights I’ll never forget and others I dare to remember. I saw Everything Everything there in 2015 and was blown away as the power of Jonathan Higgs’ vocals bounced off every wall of the intimate space and flooded each corner of the room. I welled up when I saw Def Leppard play there in 2023, surrounded by fans, young and old, who adore the room and the band more than anything in the world. It’s where I met the girl I spent my entire first year of university pining over, the place I had my 21st birthday and a venue that, to this day, I tell people they need to go to.
I attended a protest against The Leadmill closing in 2023 on behalf of WhyNow. I spoke to local people in a bid to better understand what it means to the community and found that their opinions on the space were comparable to my own. It’s not something that is easily put into words but is instead a part of the furniture, something that defines the city and the music it holds up so proudly.
“The venue is everything,” said Lawrence, a local music lover and gig-goer. “It means the world to me. Its culture and individualism are so hard to find nowadays.”
“Leadmill’s really important to the local community,” agreed Toby, the owner of a local independent label, Black Beacon Sound. “I’ve seen plenty of artists there before they’ve moved on to bigger things. Artists like BANKS, Passion Pit, and Eagles of Death Metal.”
Just by walking into the space, you enter a corridor laced with the names of those who have been on that stage. The history is laid out before you’ve even had a chance to read into it. The floor feels battle-worn, the room has character, and the people, both those who attend and those who run it, are friendly. Losing it will be a major blow to the city. However, there seems to be some confusion over what the recent court ruling actually means for the venue. So, let’s dive deeper into the venue closure and the prospective repercussions.
(Credit: @jamburrito1 / Benji Wilson)Why is The Leadmill closing down?
Despite being opened in the 1980s, The Leadmill was bought in 2016 by a company called Electric Group. Many of you will be indirectly familiar with them, as they own a number of big venues across the country, including Electric Brixton, NX in Newcastle, and SWX in Bristol. After purchasing Leadmill in 2016, they now want to take the venue over themselves. They have registered the name Electric Sheffield, but there is no guarantee this is what it will be called.
Electric Group felt that their intention of taking over the venue was unfairly manipulated by The Leadmill, who ran a campaign that made it seem like it would be closed for good. Electric Group has confirmed previously that this was never the intention, they just think it’s time for change and want to be the leading voice in that change.
The campaign grew quite unsightly, as Electric Group responded to claims of “Save the Leadmill,” saying that that’s exactly what they did. “’Save The Leadmill’ – well, we actually did that in 2016, from being knocked down,” they said, before adding that the ongoing campaign was “unnecessarily worrying people.”
It has to be said that Electric Group had a point with this. On the face of it, it looked as though they were coming in to turn the space into flats rather than just changing the sign and décor a little. Local Sheffield promoter Alan Deadman agreed, saying that the campaign launched by Leadmill was “Misguided and deceptive.”
“There’s a fierce loyalty among Sheffielders to the city, and I think that fierce loyalty has been really cruelly exploited.”
Alan Deadman
So, if the venue owners were to come in and continue running it as a venue, what’s the problem? Well, the argument put forward by The Leadmill was that they have been running the space for over 40 years and have given it the amazing reputation that it flaunts proudly. They argue it’s unreasonable for Electric Group to come in, take over and enjoy the spoils of their hard work. They also state it’s unfair that the people who work so hard at The Leadmill will suddenly be out of a job because of the takeover.
I interviewed Lottie at the protest in 2023, who was very clued up on the matter. “I worked here as a student. My mum used to come in the 1980s and me in the 1910s, and I think it’s gonna be such a shame having watched the local people serve it, love it, and get so passionate about it all the way through for somebody else to come in and dine off of that,” she said. “As far as I know, it’s the tenants of the Leadmill that have funded all of the refurbishments and everything else from the beginning. So yeah, it’s ours!”
This formed the foundation of a great deal of the legal case, and while it went on for some time, the Court finally decided that the argument for The Leadmill wasn’t enough to stop the eviction. So, it looks as though Electric Group will be moving in, and within time, people will be lining up for Electric Sheffield rather than The Leadmill. So, the next question is, is that such a bad thing?
(Credit: @jamburrito1 / Benji Wilson)Is The Leadmill closing a blessing in disguise?
What Alan Deadman said was right: there is a loyalty amongst the people of Sheffield, whether they’re from here or moved here (like me), and that loyalty means that when the space reopens under a different name with different owners, there will be a reluctance to go. It’s a real David v Goliath story in that the big bad landlords have jumped in to kick out the hard-working independents. However, while there will be a slight stubbornness in many, and it will feel odd seeing bands in a venue that isn’t The Leadmill, this doesn’t have to be the dire news that people are making it out to be.
Anyone with their feet on the ground in the Sheffield music scene for the last few years will tell you that exciting gigs haven’t been happening in Leadmill. Other spaces, such as Sidney and Matilda and Yellow Arch, have been way better for putting on good bands and providing a stage for local acts. The Leadmill has been reserved for occasional comics, tribute bands and club nights. It hasn’t felt like the staple venue it was so famous for being for a while, as the gigs are becoming few and far between.
There could be reasons for this that I’m not aware of; however, given that every band remotely big coming through Sheffield in recent years has either played The Foundry or The Octagon, commonsense dictates that promoters have been avoiding the space due to uncertainty as a result of the ongoing lawsuit. As a city that’s built on music and prides itself on its local scene, maybe the settling of the lawsuit means more big acts will pass through Sheffield once again, as it has felt particularly sparse in recent years.
Not to mention, this doesn’t need to be the end for The Leadmill. They still own the trademark, so nothing is stopping the owners from opening another venue in a different location. It was recently announced that another local space in Sheffield, Hope Works, is closing. While this is much smaller than Leadmill, it could be an opportunity for the venue to regain its independent nature and make a name for itself as a fringe venue rather than just a nightclub with the odd comedian on.
Leadmill eludes to a potential future in their recent statement, saying, “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.” They confirmed that they are “Actively consulting” their legal advisors and “Remain committed to exhausting every possible legal avenue to secure our future, retain our staff and protect our venue.”
It’s a real shame to hear that the people who work so hard at The Leadmill and have managed to create such a friendly space so entrenched with memories will no longer be involved with running it. That being said, the news doesn’t need to be the end of the world. The landlords taking the space over reflects a common issue in the modern music industry: venues are being priced out; this is what organisations such as Independent Venue Week and Music Venue Trust are trying to combat. We are lucky that, in this instance, those landlords want to continue running the space as a venue, and it may breathe some much-needed life into the space, which feels like it has been struggling for a few years. Equally, this moment could be the turning point where The Leadmill takes over a new space and reclaims its independence.
While Sheffield mourns today, it can take solace in the idea that this might just be a blessing in disguise. Only time will tell, so revisit this article in another 40 years…
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