{"id":102627,"date":"2025-05-15T04:50:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T04:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/102627\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T04:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T04:50:17","slug":"sheffields-leadmill-loses-eviction-battle-in-heartbreaking-moment-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/102627\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield\u2019s Leadmill loses eviction battle in \u2018heartbreaking moment\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Leadmill said it felt like a \u201cbetrayal of the cultural fabric of our city\u201d as it confirmed it had lost its long-running battle against its landlord, the Electric Group.<\/p>\n<p>Well-known names such as Pulp\u2019s Jarvis Cocker pledged their backing to the club, which has been a fixture in the city\u2019s music scene since 1980, after it emerged in 2022 that the Electric Group had issued the notice, triggering a lengthy legal battle.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"525\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sad news tonight. Thanks to all who&#8217;ve supported us over these difficult times, we&#8217;ll never forget what you&#8217;ve done for this business and it&#8217;s super talented staff.<\/p>\n<p>This will take us a few days to process but we will update everyone as soon as we can with next steps.<\/p>\n<p>\u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>1\/2 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zLAKmId8oX\">pic.twitter.com\/zLAKmId8oX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Leadmill (@Leadmill) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Leadmill\/status\/1922746300258279508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Leadmill issued a statement on Wednesday evening which said the judgment will mean the loss of more than 70 jobs.<\/p>\n<p>It said: \u201cThis is a heartbreaking moment not just for our team but for the entire Sheffield community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve fought tirelessly to protect this independent venue which has supported countless artists, musicians and creatives for over four decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s decision feels like a betrayal of the cultural fabric of our city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The statement went on: \u201cWe\u2019re truly devastated by this outcome, but we also know hand on heart that we did everything possible to stop the Leadmill being evicted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have poured our energy, time, love and determination into this fight and we\u2019re immensely proud of our team and the community that stood by us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe walk forward with our heads held high, knowing we gave it our all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Leadmill said the decision has \u201cramifications for every business tenant in the country\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It said: \u201cThe judgment in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal confirms that tenants have no rights whatsoever, that if a landlord wants to profit from evicting the tenant and copying the tenant\u2019s business, it can do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And it added: \u201cIf you worked all the hours God sends over years to build a successful business, it can be forcibly seized in the most egregious way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur advice to every business tenant in the country is: if you can, get out of the building you occupy and go online. Your business cannot be stolen there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2.72253219.jpg\" alt=\"Def Leppard One Night Only gig \u2013 Sheffield\" data-title=\"Def Leppard One Night Only gig \u2013 Sheffield\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Archive\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Archive\/PA Images\" data-credit=\"Danny Lawson\" data-usage-terms=\"\"  \/>Sheffield rockers Def Leppard played a\u00a0\u2018One Night Only\u2019 gig at The Leadmill in 2023 as the club\u2019s legal battle against eviction continued (Danny Lawson\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>The Leadmill said it will be hosting a series of farewell events and told those holding tickets for future gigs that there are plans in place to continue at other venues in Sheffield.<\/p>\n<p>It said; \u201cWe are devastated but not defeated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not the end of The Leadmill\u2019s spirit \u2013 it\u2019s a call to action for everyone who believes in the importance of independent culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ruling comes three months after a judge ruled in favour of the Electric Group, which owns the buildings and runs Electric Brixton in London plus venues in Bristol and Newcastle.<\/p>\n<p>The group has always stressed that it intends to keep it as a music venue, promising \u201csubstantial investment\u201d when it takes over running of the club.<\/p>\n<p>After it won the court case in February, the Electric Group said: \u201cThe successful legal outcome paves the way for a bright future for this venue, ensuring it will receive the substantial investment it needs to thrive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will continue to be a cornerstone of the live music scene in Sheffield, supporting artists, fans, and community projects for the next 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Leadmill\u00a0opened its doors 45 years ago and has played host to countless bands including Pulp, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Muse, Oasis, Stone Roses, The White Stripes, Jorja Smith and Michael Kiwanuka.<\/p>\n<p>A plaque on the building marks Pulp\u2019s first-ever gig, which was at the venue in August 1980.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Leadmill said it felt like a \u201cbetrayal of the cultural fabric of our city\u201d as it confirmed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,393,4884,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-102627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-sheffield","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114510051677709352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}