Crookes Social Club: Sheffield manager warns drink-smuggling could force closure and harm live music scene
Customers sneaking alcohol into Crookes Social Club are “threatening” Sheffield’s live music scene and could ultimately force the venue to close, its general manager has warned.
Maurice Champeau told The Star that customers smuggling in their own alcohol is becoming the norm, with some parties bringing in as many as four bottles of prosecco and spirits at a time.
As a struggling social club, he said the business simply cannot absorb these costs, and closure is an inevitability if it continues.
“It’s something that’s always gone on within the industry - people have always sneaked their drinks in - but it’s becoming prevalent now,” he said.
“It’s almost becoming the norm, for a section of the community to actually feel that they’re entitled to bring drinks in.
“We are a struggling social club, like all other live music venues, and times are tough at the moment - we’re working very, very hard.
“It just feels like a personal affront when people feel they are entitled to bring in their own cans of Stella and not contribute to what everyone else is contributing to - the running costs of a business like this.”
Maurice emphasised the scale of the issue.
“Since the first of December I’ve now counted 25 occasions that I’ve taken drinks off somebody - to the extent that on New Year’s Eve a party of six people thought it was appropriate to bring themselves four bottles of Prosecco in,” he explained.
“So it’s not just sneaking in the odd little drink - it’s bottles of spirits and it’s the drinks some people are drinking all night.”
He recounted how one customer had proudly bragged about how he had never bought a drink at the venue - despite attending over 20 music gigs there.
“One young chap two weeks ago, in his mid-twenties, moved to Sheffield in September last year and was proud that he’s attended over 20 music gigs and never bought a drink,” he said.
“He explained to me that he brings a can down each sleeve and no one ever confronts him - and this chap was proud of the fact he’d been doing that.
“He’d been absorbing the live music scene of Sheffield but not contributing to it. That will kill off more and more of these venues unless it’s nipped in the bud right away.”
When asked why he thinks people have normalised this behaviour, he said: “Many of them are of the opinion that if they’ve bought a ticket, why would they have to buy drinks as well? A lot of the arguments are that drinks are cheaper in supermarkets, so why can’t they bring them in here?
“Well, I don’t bring my McDonald’s burgers and take them into Tesco and eat them in the aisles because it isn’t the done thing.”
Maurice said that this takes place alongside the backdrop of a struggling live music industry.
Despite Crookes Social Club making a turnover of over £500,000 last year, it only made £900 profit - which equates to 0.17 per cent.
He said: “It only takes one bench to break, one fuse board to explode, and we are then at a loss - and businesses like this cannot trade at a loss.
“We have no reserves, so we live off day-by-day trading. The knock-on effect of that is that these businesses are going to close.”
Much of this, he said, is down to rising costs.
“Music venues are closing all the time because they’re finding it harder and harder to survive - their costs are going through the roof,” Maurice said.
“As a perfect example, in the last three years my electric bill has increased by 400 per cent,” he explained.
“We can’t pass these indirect costs onto our customers, so we have to increase our turnover.
“People doing this are just undermining the profitability of the business. Long-term, the business won’t be here.”
An established social club like this closing down would have a devastating affect on the community.
Maurice said: “We have at least 20 different community groups that use this venue on a regular basis for different events. They will effectively close because there isn’t another venue for them to go to.
“I’ve also got 150 members who regularly use the club for their own social activities - they wouldn’t be here either.”
With this threat of closure, he also shared his fear that the club would be bulldozed and instead replaced with flats.
Amid those fears, he urged people to recognise the value of live music venues - and support them before they disappear for good.
“Just think about the impact of that one drink- because it’s never just one, and it’s never just one person. If you enjoy going to live music venues - just contribute a little bit,” he pleaded.
“We don’t expect people to spend a fortune but come to the bar and buy one drink - make us feel we’re actually putting something on that’s worthwhile.”