The Leadmill Sheffield: New owners Electric Group launch legal bid to oust management in ‘toxic’ eviction battle

Dominic Madden, chief executive of Electric Group, said they had applied to remove the current managers and hoped a decision would be made in the first quarter of 2024. If it goes their way, boss Phil Mills would have three months to vacate.

He said: “The Leadmill’s management’s lease is protected under the Landlord and Tenant Act, which means that it can only be brought to an end by a hearing.

“If we are successful at that hearing, Mr Mills [the leaseholder] would have three months to vacate the premises. We think the hearing is likely to be heard in 2024, but we hope for the first quarter.”

Electric Group bought the iconic building in 2017 and issued an eviction order last year. It expected to take over when a 20-year lease expired in March of this year. But the famous city centre club continues to operate as normal, with acts booked until late 2024.

Meanwhile, Mr Mills has led a social media campaign - backed by stars including Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley, Eddie Izzard - to ‘save’ the Leadmill, stating it could be ‘forced to close’.

Mr Madden accused Mr Mills of waging a ‘toxic’ campaign and seeking to “worry members of the public that the nature of the Leadmill’s roots will somehow be ignored and not understood”.

But he said his 25 years’ experience of management in the entertainment sector had taught him the skills of running a successful venue.

He added: “Mills is very upset because he has profitable businesses coming to an end, and he's just trying to cause as much difficulty as possible. He's trying to present me as a mainstream nightclub operator, who doesn't understand the cultural significance of the Leadmill.

“From the conversations I've had locally, with the local authority, with political leadership, and all kinds of other people in the region, once people realised that the Leadmill wasn't closing, albeit that the management might be changing, people said ‘oh, okay, that's fine’.”

Electric Group is an independent and privately owned music venues company, which runs Electric Brixton in London, SWX in Bistol, and NX in Newcastle. Behind the company are Mr Madden, and Jake Lewis, of the Lewis Family, which owns River Island amongst many other business interests.

Electric Group has been unable to share many plans for the Leadmill for ‘legal reasons’, but Mr Madden said: “We intend to recruit a team from Sheffield, we intend to continue to run all the community engagement projects that they do at the moment, we will continue to run the studios that are set above the venue. The new version of the Leadmill will be almost seamlessly similar to the existing operations.”

It would continue as a music venue, only closing temporarily for a £1m refurbishment of backstage facilities.

Mr Madden confirmed Electric Group had received legal advice to keep the venue’s name, but could not comment further.

He added: “We're good people, and we actually bought the venue to protect it from being redeveloped. Every city has its own peculiar, weird and wonderful handwriting, and the venues need to reflect that. We don't run a chain of venues. We're not the O2 Academy.

“What we intend to do is continue to allow the venue to evolve. When people come into the Leadmill when it reopens, I'm hoping that it will be curiously, incredibly similar to the existing version, but some of the facilities may be upgraded.”

The venue has events listed as far ahead as December 2024. Gigs scheduled later next year include a Foo Fighters tribute act in May 2024.

This was dubbed a ‘risky’ move by Mr Madden in the case the hearing gets brought forward.

The club’s website appears to be accepting payment as normal and offers a £1.65 refund protection in the case of ‘accidents, unexpected illnesses or specified unforeseen circumstances’.

The Leadmill has been approached for comment.