Such a timely article, I've been hoping you'd cover this for months. The save the leadmill campaign appealed to my instinct but was always suspiciously light on facts, to the point were i couldn't back it any more. This article has really helped me understand...only the Tribune does this. Thankyou.
Sep 16, 2023·edited Sep 16, 2023Liked by Victoria Munro
Another excellent piece of journalism with history and some background I didn’t know. It will be very sad if Sheffield loses the Leadmill (which I don’t think it will if Dominic Madden is true to his word) Last week (as I tweeted) the Leadmill came out fighting dirty presenting councillors at the forthcoming hearing with reams of negative press reports citing incidents of bad behaviour and some serious violence at Electric Group’s three venues in Brixton, Bristol and Newcastle . The (rare) two day hearing next week at Sheffied City Council’s licensing committee (18th & 19th) will be an interesting piece of Sheffield history and in a years time we’ll all be asking what the fuss was about when the Leadmill remains open, thriving and everybody kept their jobs . Phil Mills however, may still be licking his wounds. Thanks Victoria !
Thanks Andy! Remains to be seen if a new venue will be allowed to operate as "The Leadmill" or if it will have to use another name but I do hope The Leadmill continues in some form, somewhere
Sep 18, 2023·edited Sep 19, 2023Liked by Victoria Munro
The ironic thing about this battle for the Leadmill is that it has been forced into going back towards what it had claimed to be. There has been more good stuff on in the last year than for the previous twenty years, when it has just been a student nightclub band with the occasional tribute band on.
Excellent in depth article pulling out background information which puts a totally different light on the fight over the club. I would say the best article I have read on tribune since it started.
I am so relieved you have put the other side of things. I used to work at the Leadmill in the late 80s while a student and even worked for Phil Mills for a short time as his assistant and he has had plenty of time to buy the lease but promoted this huge sob story instead!! Some famous musicians fell for it too such as Richard Hawley. Excellent journalism thank you.
THANK YOU!! I was significantly underwhelmed by the 'We Can't Lose Leadmill' campaign, as my last few experiences of events there had been pretty poor and the overcrowding of the space felt quite dangerous (the difference between the floorspace / capacity of the venue and the area available where you can actually see the stage is significant!) It's felt very much like a corporate venue for a long time, so being taken over by another corporate operator didn't feel like a big deal. The only thing that made me hesitate though was thinking about the level of time, money and energy that the current team will have had to put in to keep the venue going through the pandemic.
That is very true! To be honest, I hope as many of the existing staff get kept on as possible, although I think some of them have kind of burned a bridge. I'm not sure I'd be keen to keep them on if I was Madden.
A brilliant, balanced and meticulous article. I have held strong opinions on this saga for sometime (firmly against the current operators..). This article has left me feeling entirely vindicated by that informed stance. Like all of us, I too love The Leadmill.. but the tactics and misinformation that has been and continues to be spread by Mill's minions is completely unacceptable, in my opinion.
I feel bad for them though! They'd lose their job if they disobeyed their boss, but being caught up in this is arguably really damaging for their careers
Absolutely - not least with how precious any form of employment is these days. One hopes very much that Mr. Madden & co. will look to keep on as many of the current staffing team as is practical, when the time comes (excluding any of course who would rather *not* work for/under the new owners etc.).
Great story, thanks for digging into this. Instinctively I’d prefer the Leadmill to continue as it is, but the tone of their current campaign has made me question what’s really going on here
Fascinating, informative journalism, doing what It’s supposed to do; what thinking people WANT from it.
Leadmill had just opened when I first came to Sheff in ‘82 and I attended gigs there but you have filled in gaps for me as I hadn’t known the, impressive, history of it’s creation.
When I returned to live here, hopefully for good, in 2001 I was glad a Leadmill venue still existed, but the place had declined across all areas.
Been convinced for a while there’s a lot more to the current closure/takeover/ ?? perhaps even partial “salvation”…. story than has been readily available and you’ve provided great, balanced seeming, background.
Such a timely article, I've been hoping you'd cover this for months. The save the leadmill campaign appealed to my instinct but was always suspiciously light on facts, to the point were i couldn't back it any more. This article has really helped me understand...only the Tribune does this. Thankyou.
Another excellent piece of journalism with history and some background I didn’t know. It will be very sad if Sheffield loses the Leadmill (which I don’t think it will if Dominic Madden is true to his word) Last week (as I tweeted) the Leadmill came out fighting dirty presenting councillors at the forthcoming hearing with reams of negative press reports citing incidents of bad behaviour and some serious violence at Electric Group’s three venues in Brixton, Bristol and Newcastle . The (rare) two day hearing next week at Sheffied City Council’s licensing committee (18th & 19th) will be an interesting piece of Sheffield history and in a years time we’ll all be asking what the fuss was about when the Leadmill remains open, thriving and everybody kept their jobs . Phil Mills however, may still be licking his wounds. Thanks Victoria !
Thanks Andy! Remains to be seen if a new venue will be allowed to operate as "The Leadmill" or if it will have to use another name but I do hope The Leadmill continues in some form, somewhere
The ironic thing about this battle for the Leadmill is that it has been forced into going back towards what it had claimed to be. There has been more good stuff on in the last year than for the previous twenty years, when it has just been a student nightclub band with the occasional tribute band on.
Excellent in depth article pulling out background information which puts a totally different light on the fight over the club. I would say the best article I have read on tribune since it started.
Thanks so much James!
I am so relieved you have put the other side of things. I used to work at the Leadmill in the late 80s while a student and even worked for Phil Mills for a short time as his assistant and he has had plenty of time to buy the lease but promoted this huge sob story instead!! Some famous musicians fell for it too such as Richard Hawley. Excellent journalism thank you.
Is Richard Hawley related to Ken Hawley, proprietor of an amazing tool shop many years ago?
THANK YOU!! I was significantly underwhelmed by the 'We Can't Lose Leadmill' campaign, as my last few experiences of events there had been pretty poor and the overcrowding of the space felt quite dangerous (the difference between the floorspace / capacity of the venue and the area available where you can actually see the stage is significant!) It's felt very much like a corporate venue for a long time, so being taken over by another corporate operator didn't feel like a big deal. The only thing that made me hesitate though was thinking about the level of time, money and energy that the current team will have had to put in to keep the venue going through the pandemic.
That is very true! To be honest, I hope as many of the existing staff get kept on as possible, although I think some of them have kind of burned a bridge. I'm not sure I'd be keen to keep them on if I was Madden.
A brilliant, balanced and meticulous article. I have held strong opinions on this saga for sometime (firmly against the current operators..). This article has left me feeling entirely vindicated by that informed stance. Like all of us, I too love The Leadmill.. but the tactics and misinformation that has been and continues to be spread by Mill's minions is completely unacceptable, in my opinion.
I feel bad for them though! They'd lose their job if they disobeyed their boss, but being caught up in this is arguably really damaging for their careers
Absolutely - not least with how precious any form of employment is these days. One hopes very much that Mr. Madden & co. will look to keep on as many of the current staffing team as is practical, when the time comes (excluding any of course who would rather *not* work for/under the new owners etc.).
Great article that answers a lot of questions I had about the whole situation
This is a great article! There is a lot I didn’t know here and, for me, it’s reframed the current campaign to save the Leadmill
Thanks, great article. Didn't know all the history!
Great story, thanks for digging into this. Instinctively I’d prefer the Leadmill to continue as it is, but the tone of their current campaign has made me question what’s really going on here
Superbly researched and written piece.
Amazing article, thank you. This is why I subscribe, really good, informative essays.
Excellent article regarding the Leadmill.
I wonder how many who are being asked to protest will boycott the place when the new venue opens?
Jb
Thanks Victoria, a lot I did not know about, which has made me feel better informed.
Fascinating, informative journalism, doing what It’s supposed to do; what thinking people WANT from it.
Leadmill had just opened when I first came to Sheff in ‘82 and I attended gigs there but you have filled in gaps for me as I hadn’t known the, impressive, history of it’s creation.
When I returned to live here, hopefully for good, in 2001 I was glad a Leadmill venue still existed, but the place had declined across all areas.
Been convinced for a while there’s a lot more to the current closure/takeover/ ?? perhaps even partial “salvation”…. story than has been readily available and you’ve provided great, balanced seeming, background.
Thanks again Tribune! :)
Thanks! Glad you liked the piece