This is your last chance to invest in the ‘Own Our Venues’ campaign to save gig spaces with public ownership

Music Venue Properties (MVP) is urging fans to invest in its ‘Own Our Venues’ campaign to save gig spaces, with just two days remaining until the deadline. Find all the details below.

The initiative has already hit 87 per cent of its £1.5million target, raising over £1.3million from more than 1,000 supporters, ahead of the investment window closing this Friday (November 14).

• READ MORE: 2023 was “worst year for venue closures” while “no one in music industry seems to care”, say MVT

Now, MVP has issued a fresh plea to live music fans to help secure the future of seven key grassroots venues across the UK as part of its national campaign.

These are Esquires (Bedford), The Sugarmill (Stoke-on-Trent), Peggy’s Skylight (Nottingham), The Pipeline (Brighton), Northern Guitars (Leeds), Gut Level (Sheffield) and Little Buildings (Newcastle).

According to MVP, each establishment plays “a vital role in its local ecosystem, providing accessible spaces for live music and supporting artists at the earliest stages of their careers”.

“Without investment, many of these venues face uncertain futures due to the threat of sale, redevelopment, or unstable leases,” it adds.

It comes after both The Joiners and The Croft – two grassroots music venues in Southampton and Bristol, respectively – were saved thanks to the ‘Own Our Venues’ campaign last week.

Matt Otridge, chief operating officer at ‘Own Our Venues’ (MVP), commented: “This phase of the ‘Own Our Venues’ campaign closes in just days, and we are calling on everyone, the industry, artists, government and music fans, to come together and invest what they can, we have done this before and must do it again.

“Every contribution before this Friday’s deadline helps us to secure more venues and each investor can then stand alongside those who already proudly say: we own these venues.”

The community share offer opened on May 15, with MVP recommending a share subscription of £500. The minimum share subscription for under 25s is £50, and £100 for over 25s.

‘Own Our Venues’ has set a maximum share subscription of £100,000. The interest is at four per cent, and targeted to be paid annually from the second year after the investment is made. Five per cent of the total share capital is to be made available to withdraw from the fifth year onwards.

“We must do everything we can to ensure that these buildings are protected from development and the venues safeguarded for generations to come,” said Squeeze frontman Glenn Tilbrook, who is among the existing investors.

“They are essential, not just for fostering local talent but to ensure that our communities have access to cultural hubs and affordable live music.”

You can invest here, and find more information here.

First announced by the Music Venue Trust back in 2022, the MVP initiative went on to raise £2.3million in its first year via a series of donations and investments. That figure now stands at almost £4million.

In January, it was reported that one UK grassroots venue had closed every two weeks in 2024. It was said that nearly half of such spaces were making a loss, while 200 remained in a state of emergency due to the nation’s “collapse in touring”.

Today (Wednesday November 12), this year’s annual economic report by UK Music highlighted some of the ongoing challenges in the music industry – including the threat to grassroots music venues.

Meanwhile, Sam Fender has donated his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venue Trust, and recognised the vital role that grassroots venues had played in his early career.

“I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today if it wasn’t for all the gigs I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out,” he explained. “These venues are legendary, but they are struggling.”

Speaking to NME over the summer, Prime Minister Keir Starmer assured that he was “very supportive” of the £1 ticket levy to help support these spaces, and said they were “where a lot of people access their music”.

Starmer continued: “I’ll be looking at what we can do in order to give them the chance not just to survive, but to thrive.”