Leadmill call for public support in latest stage of fight against landlord

The Leadmill have called on the public to support the latest stage of the battle against their landlords, who are pressing ahead with plans to take over the building and evict the current tenants.

The independent venue are asking Sheffield citizens to object to an application for a premises licence, which Electric Group will need to operate in the city.

If successful, the London-based company will move closer to their goal of evicting The Leadmill from their home and opening a new venue in its place, which is likely to be part of the Electric chain.

"As many of you are aware, our landlords have issued The Leadmill with an eviction notice in order to operate from this location themselves," said the venue in a statement.

"If they are successful, this would result in The Leadmill ceasing to exist after 43 years."

Members of the public can object to an application for a premises licence if they know of any relevant reasons why it should not be granted.

Objections must be made on the grounds of public safety, crime prevention, the potential for public nuisance or to protect children from harm.

Anyone wishing to object must do so by 24 May. You can send an email to the Licensing Service which must include both your name and address and the address of the site (6/7 Leadmill Road, Sheffield, S1 4SE).

Other venues managed by the Electric Group have seen a string of incidents relating to public safety. In 2019, a man was seriously assaulted at SWX Bristol, and in 2017 a woman was sexually assaulted in the club's toilets.

In 2019 three people were stabbed during an incident at Electric Brixton, leaving one person with life-threatening injuries. Most recently, a man was punched in the face and sustained serious injuries during a fight at SWX Bristol in October last year.

Some customers have also raised safety concerns after visiting the venues.

One TripAdvisor review describes Electric Brixton as "the worst venue imaginable", and said that problems during a World Cup screening in December "led to dismayed, angry and uncontrolled crowds throwing objects at the screen and hitting other people there. No security stopping this."

The Leadmill are hoping that if enough supporters cite these incidents as part of their objections, Sheffield City Council will refuse Electric Group a license to operate in the city.

The shock news of The Leadmill's eviction broke in March 2022, and at the time they were given twelve months to leave the city centre site which has been their home since 1980.

If the eviction goes ahead, all aspects of the iconic venue will be removed, including its name, its programming team and all its interior fittings, leaving only the shell of the building behind.

Since the original announcement updates from either party have been sporadic, but The Leadmill have continued to programme events up to March next year.

A recent Instagram post by the venue suggested that the planned eviction has not yet gone ahead due to legal wrangling behind the scenes.

Tomorrow night, heavy metal veterans Def Leppard will play a sold-out show to support their hometown venue, before starting a worldwide tour taking in Bramall Lane and Wembley Arena.