Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) Music Venue Properties (MVP) board met recently to discuss the outcome of the ‘Own Our Venues’ campaign, which has raised £2.3m (€2.6m/$2.9m) from 1,261 individual investors. The board voted unanimously to move ahead with modelling the purchase of the first set of grassroots music venues. MVT set up the Charitable Community …
Preston City Council supports Music Venue Trust’s ‘Own Our Venues’ scheme with loan
Music Venue Trust (MVT) has received a boost to its fundraising campaign from Preston City Council, in a bid to save grassroots music venue The Ferret. The council has provided a £150,000 (€170,000/$180,000) loan to MVT’s ‘Own Our Venues’ campaign, with the fundraiser set to close on March 30. The charity is calling on other …
Music Venue Trust reveals latest Pipeline Investment Fund recipients
Music Venue Trust (MVT) has revealed its third round of recipients for its Pipeline Investment Fund, which provides grants to grassroots music venues in the UK. The charity has announced that a further 13 venues will benefit from grants of up to £5,000 (€5,700/$6,000) to help with projects and improvements including lighting, sound, CCTV, air …
Grassroots music venues continue to feel the strain
Grassroots music venues in the UK have said that the mix of the cost-of-living crisis, Brexit and cancelled shows have created a ‘perfect storm’. Talking to NME, Gareth Barber, owner, promoter and a band manager at Esquires in Bedford, said: “COVID’s not gone away, everyone’s feeling the pinch, there’s a cost of living crisis and …
Music Venue Trust report finds grassroots events still below pre-pandemic levels
The Music Venue Trust (MVT)’s annual report has revealed that while its members staged 177,000 events last year, it was still a decrease of 16.7% compared to pre-pandemic levels. MVT represents almost 1,000 grassroots venues in the UK and a survey of 960 of those found that there were also 565,000 individual performances, and together …
Music Venue Trust reveals Pipeline fund recipients
Music Venue Trust (MVT) has revealed the first recipients of its new funding initiative, the Pipeline Investment Fund, which provides grants of up to £5,000 ($6,000/€5,800) for UK grassroots music venues. The fund was established with support from Music Venues Alliance members, and was primarily funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s recent ‘Revive …
Industry reacts to UK Chancellor’s autumn budget
Bodies from across the live entertainment, theatre and night time industries have called the UK Chancellor’s autumn budget a ‘missed opportunity’. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled the autumn budget yesterday (Thursday) and despite calls for an extension to Theatre Tax Relief and a cut to VAT on ticket sales for circus, entertainment and performing arts companies, …
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes become Music Venue Trust patrons
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes have become patrons of the Music Venue Trust (MVT), and have shown their support for the UK’s grassroots music venues with three special shows at The Underworld in Camden. The band have joined other grassroots music venue advocates including Sir Paul McCartney, the recently announced Tom Grennan, Frank Turner, Tim …
Manchester venue under threat due to noise complaint
Manchester’s Night & Day Cafe is set to appear in court next month after a noise complaint, meaning its future is hanging in the balance. Manchester City Council issued the venue, which has hosted the likes of Wet Leg, Elbow and the Arctic Monkeys, with a noise abatement notice last year. The owners will now …
Tom Grennan becomes patron of Music Venue Trust
British singer/songwriter Tom Grennan has become a patron of Music Venue Trust, a charity that is working to protect, secure and improve the UK’s grassroots music venues (GMVs). Grennan’s career in music was kickstarted by north London venue, The Finsbury. In an interview with mobility app Free Now, which has also partnered with MVT to …