Hundreds have venues across the UK have been forced to close since 2020.
Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.
Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Open doors for a room full of memories.
00:06From grassroot acts to rock royalty like Iron Maiden, Leo's Red Lion in Northfleet has been
00:14a safe haven for music lovers for more than 40 years.
00:20But like many venues across Kent, the bar is still having to adjust to life five years
00:28on from the Covid-19 pandemic.
00:32Obviously for everybody it was a strange, very strange time.
00:36And for live music venues, I'm surprised that more didn't close because it was very difficult.
00:44The overheads from running an establishment like this without going into details, it can
00:50be quite nerve-wracking, you know, they're expensive things to run.
00:55And for many venues, those operating costs are far beyond their control.
01:01What we've seen is post the pandemic, not just venues really struggling, but also other
01:07parts that are around them trying to make back money that wasn't major in the pandemic.
01:13So rents went up by an extraordinary amount in 23, 24.
01:17All kinds of things have gone up by an extraordinary amount.
01:21And it really is very, very difficult to find the money that's needed to cover that.
01:25Data from the Music Venue Trust shows that around 150 venues closed between 2022 and
01:342024, with nearly half reporting a loss in the last 12 months.
01:41In 2024, 200 venues contacted Music Venue Trust because they feared that they would
01:47face permanent closure.
01:48We had to help 200 venues to survive.
01:51There are only 810 venues in the whole country.
01:54So one in four of those venues, including venues in Kent, are currently in our service
01:59trying to make sure they don't close down.
02:02For Leo's Red Lion, plans shelved during the pandemic are finally coming to fruition.
02:09But even here, the challenges of operating a venue have become much more difficult in
02:16the post-COVID downturn.
02:18It all has to come from selling drinks, for all intents and purposes.
02:24There are other things, but it's predominantly drinks.
02:27It makes you realise that it's a very fickle trade to get into.
02:32When people say to me, I'm thinking of taking over a pub, going nearby, I say, yeah, I wouldn't
02:37do it.
02:38I just, I don't think I would, if I was in the same position, I don't think I would take
02:43on a pub now.
02:45There is still hope for live music here in Kent, with grassroots venues across the county
02:52still striking a chord.
02:54But half a decade since lockdown, the economic future for the county is still uncertain.
03:01And whether those in the business will soon have to face the music is hard to say.
03:08Oliver, leader of the sacks for KMTV in Northfleet.