MAY | FEATURE
Above: A performance
at EartH Hackney
take whatever price is offered. That usually means one
higher than before.
Beverley Whitrick is Strategic Director at the Music
Venue Trust (MVT), a registered charity which acts to
protect, secure and improve grassroots music venues.
She says the rent problem is widespread, and very
serious: “One of the fears that we as MVT have voiced
to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is that
some landlords may be using this as an opportunity to
get rid of low-paying music venues, and potentially put
in something they believe will earn more money.”
Whitrick also points out that many venues in London
are not eligible for business rates relief, as their rateable
value is over £50,000. This figure, she says, is all to do
with the value of the property and not the turnover of
the business. “If a grassroots music venue happens to be
in an expensive area, it doesn’t mean that business has
more money. They should be entitled to breaks in the
same way similar venues valued below the threshold
are,” she says.
Both of these problems are putting immense financial
strain on the UK’s venues, and Whitrick says the future
is bleak unless something changes quickly. “Right
now, we are looking at a really terrifying percentage of
closures. The conversations about rent and business
“Landlords may be using this as an
opportunity to get rid of low-paying music
venues, and put in something they believe
will earn more.”
rates are the ones that need to be had immediately, so we
can sustain as many venues as possible.”
Roots of the EartH
Auro Foxcroft, Director of Hackney venues EartH and
Village Underground, echoes the warning from Music
Venue Trust. “What happens if half the grassroots
venues in the UK shut down? The whole music
ecosystem will suffer from that,” he says. “Kicking
the can down the road, it won’t be long until the next
generation of festival headliners won’t have anywhere to
build their careers.”
Still, Foxcroft sounds a note of optimism: the small
and medium sized venues that are able to survive the
Covid-19 crisis may be more flexible once the dust
settles. “Our sector is in a great position – theoretically
– to get straight back into business once lockdown is
lifted. After this, people are going to be desperate to
go out and dance. Also, because a lot of festivals are
cancelled, there might be a wave of major artists milling
around who would be more open to playing the smaller
venues that reopen first.”
Foxcroft is also keen to point out that not all landlords
are using the lockdown as an opportunity to turn a
profit. His venues are overlooked by Hackney Council,
who he says have been very helpful. Likewise, Joseph
points to TFL and Crowne Estates as doing “the right
thing” by offering rent breaks to struggling businesses.
But there is a very real possibility that the UK’s small
and medium venues could be decimated, as much by
stubborn landlords as by the virus. The furlough scheme
for staff was only one half of the puzzle – the other half
is rent. Urgent action is needed to address the situation,
before more key cultural institutions are lost.
13