April 1st 2022
Dominic Madden:
“Judge us by what we do and our track
record”
September 18th 2023
Sheffield Licensing Committee:
“The benefits of the Leadmill go far
beyond its presence just as a music venue. Do any of your other venues run this
model where they are a community space that provides an asset beyond being a
music space to the community?”
Dominic Madden:
"Well Brixton sort of does. Errm there are certain elements which programming which are more you know in terms of we work partner with some community groups and erm so yes I would say yes.” (what groups, why were none mentioned by name?)
“In Bristol no”
“And in terms of Newcastle it’s a brand new thing.” (so, no..)
Frazer Spooner, Objecting
on behalf of Leadmill staff.
“I’ve been afforded the
opportunity to learn and grow in ways that no previous education was able to
offer”.
“The current
Leadmill team is a young, driven, endlessly creative collective of minds that aren’t
here just because it’s a job to do, but because we are all completely committed
to delivering memories and experiences of the calibre that we have grown
accustomed to as Leadmill customers.”
Dominic Heslop, Sheffield
bred Jamaican British artist, rapper and social engagement practitioner.
“Many of the young people
we have engaged with are from precarious backgrounds, immersed in trauma, child
exploitation and serious youth violence.”
“The Leadmill is
an integral part in our nurturing relationship between community, young people,
culture, and industry. Their influence has enabled more creative opportunities
for young people that would not ordinarily have the access”.
“There is no
evidence that The Electric Group has any interest or is capable of nurturing
communities or young people. The well documented incidents of violence, failure
to safeguard young people, prevention of crime and disorder have been breached
on numerous occasions, into serious acts of lawlessness”
Sam Holland, director of
Migration Matters music festival.
“Over the last few years
we have partnered with team at The Leadmill to deliver a number of events which
have positively impacted the multicultural and diverse communities across the
city”.
If this licence is
granted it tarnishes our brilliant cities reputation and for one of the
country’s best loved venues to be in the wrong hands.
Claire Brown,
representing Franz Von.
“The Leadmill
directly works to support the agenda of race equality commissions,
recommendations by educating future generations, fostering inclusive
communities and well-being, supporting one Sheffield community, life, and
confidence, and of course celebrating Sheffield through culture and music.”
Rob Unwin, next door
neighbour to The Leadmill
“excellent neighbours”
“Scotia Works was
refurbished and established in 2003, and in all that time it has been a
privilege to be next door neighbours to The Leadmill.. We’ve heard about their
community focussed activities; they hold special accessible events for young
people and many different groups.”
“but to have new
people coming in who we don’t know, have not spoken to us, have made no attempt
to speak to the local community as far as I am aware, couples with their
reputation of overselling tickets, not having a DPS, inadequate additional
conditions is of huge concern to me and the other tenants and neighbours”.
Peter Prowse, retired
academic.
“(The Leadmill is) used
as case studies for lots of things across the UK.“
“I want to make
two points clear – I have nothing to do with the current Leadmill management or
Mr Mills, but I would like to say one thing. I’ve worked for the last 30 years
on economic regeneration, and I’ve worked in a number of cities around the UK
and around the world. I want to make the point that this local economy
business, which is a running business, employing 80 people minima with more
people for events management, is very successful.
Matthew Renshaw. “it’s
not just a grassroots music venue, but for small businesses”.
“I’m one of the
businesses that rent space above The Leadmill, one of countless tenants who’ve
held the same space then moved onto bigger and better venues in Sheffield,
opening bigger and more useful things to the local community. If you get rid of
The Leadmill you get rid of that opportunity for all of us starters offs, our
entrepreneurs to do the same thing.”
Jo Owens, Resident of
Sheffield for 40 years,
“I speak on behalf of the
parents that want to keep their children safe – it’s quite a scary world out
there and The Leadmill is a safe place.”
“If this take over
does happen, (my son) will not be attending the new nightclub or whatever it
becomes, looking at the track record that Mr Madden has.”
Stephen Blakeley runs a
business based in Sheffield that specialises in governance, safeguarding,
community development.
“Understanding and
engaging with the community, is a significantly critical part of any risk
mitigation strategy that is undertaken by these kinds of venues.
“The Leadmill has
worked for a very long time to build relationships with the community, we’ve
heard about some of the things, the engagement with young people and vulnerable
people and these are really important and they are not just good deeds that The
Leadmill does. These are risk mitigation measures, and they are really
essential”.
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