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Save The Leadmill campaign calls on supporters to tell council leader to back venue’s current management team
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 18 August 2023
The Save The Leadmill campaign has announced another initiative in its ongoing bid to try to halt a planned management change at the Sheffield venue. Supporters are being called upon to write to new Sheffield City Council leader Tom Hunt demanding that he get on their side.
“This isn’t just about The Leadmill”, insists a spokesperson for the current management team at the venue. “Everything that’s made our city what it is today is at stake. It may start with us, but it goes much further than that. If we don’t stop this hostile takeover, the very soul and character of our great city is at risk. Tom needs to pick a side”.
All of this stems from plans by the owner of the building that houses The Leadmill – music venue company Electric Group – to take direct control of the venue by putting its own management team in place.
Those plans prompted current Leadmill operator Phil Mills and his team to mount the Save The Leadmill campaign, ramping things up somewhat last month by declaring that that campaign was now “a battle for the soul of Sheffield”.
Electric Group boss Dominic Madden has countered that his company plans to continue running the venue pretty much as it stands now, just with a new top team in place. He has also accused Mills of running a “toxic” campaign, and attempting to mislead people into believing that the venue is set to permanently close and be redeveloped.
Madden’s company bought the Leadmill building in 2016. The current management initially continued to run the venue, but were formally given twelve months to vacate the premises in March last year. Having launched the Save The Leadmill campaign and refused to leave, the existing team have programmed events into 2024.
They are also calling on supporters to object to the Electric Group’s efforts to secure its own licence to operate the venue.
If granted, that would initially be a ‘shadow premises licence’, which applies when a landlord holds a licence in relation to a building where a tenant also has a licence to trade. The aim, presumably, is to ensure that any future switchover between Mills’ team and Madden’s team is as seamless as possible.
While it seems likely that some supporters have submitted objections to the council’s licensing committee, the ‘relevant reasons’ allowed for objecting to a licence application are very narrow. There are four main reasons that can justify such an objection, as follows: “the prevention of crime and disorder; public safety; the prevention of public nuisance; the protection of children from harm”.
All of which means it seems somewhat optimistic to think that the Electric Group’s plans to take control of The Leadmill can be blocked by the council’s licensing committee. Nevertheless, a meeting of that committee on 18 Sep is the next key date for the current team as their Save The Leadmill campaign continues.
As that date approaches, the campaign has become even more active. First, there was the “battle for the soul of Sheffield” claim and an accompanying video, and now the call for supporters to bombard Tom Hunt – who was elected Sheffield City Council leader in May – with calls to support the current management team. Save The Leadmill claims that 5000 people have already committed to do this.
“Tom, of all people, should know that this hostile takeover risks fundamentally and forever changing the course of our city, heritage and culture”, says the Leadmill’s spokesperson. “It may start with us at The Leadmill, but it goes much further than that. If we don’t stop this hostile takeover, the very soul and character of our great city is at risk. Tom needs to pick a side”.
“There are 80 members of staff who are incredibly passionate about ensuring that The Leadmill is a top quality venue that provides a huge variety of entertainment to visitors from across the globe, but we are all so tired of the ongoing situation – time and energy is being spent on trying to retain our jobs and The Leadmill”, they go on. “Its history and its legacy is so important to Sheffield and to all of us working here”.
“That’s why we’re asking you – the great people of Sheffield – and further afield! – to help us win this battle”, they conclude.
While seeking to counter what it sees as a very misleading Save The Leadmill campaign, the Electric Group has also begun formal legal proceedings to evict Mills. That should reach court next year.
