London venue Matchstick Piehouse saved and can re-open as staff’ co-op

London venue Matchstick Piehouse has confirmed that it has been saved amid the specter of closure, and can quickly re-open as a staff’ co-op.

The way forward for the South East London grassroots venue, situated within the Deptford railway arches, was thrown into query final November and was pressured to name upon its supporters to contribute to a fundraiser to remain open.

It got here as the owner was reported as “threatening to primarily finish the lease” except they have been in a position to raise £35,000 by the top of the week. The strain placed on the placement – which is a bar, music venue and artwork house – got here following commerce declined after the pandemic restrictions.

In January, it was confirmed that it had misplaced the battle with its landlord to remain open and revealed plans to turn into a employee’s co-op as a substitute. It had raised round £30,000 in donations – one thing the workers on the venue described as “a testomony to the neighborhood energy” – however was unable to repay the COVID-19 hire arrears.

Now, it has been confirmed {that a} group of former Matchstick workers, together with resident artists, workers from different grassroots venues and the Music Venue Belief (MVT), have fashioned a brand new staff co-op underneath the title Piehouse Co-op.

The announcement comes after a yr of negotiations, and the venue is now set to re-open in spring 2025.

Based on a brand new press launch, the venue is 150-capacity and is certainly one of only a handful of native venues in London that’s wheelchair accessible. At time of writing, although, it’s at the moment unfurnished and in new want of lights, sound and furnishings, as the unique Matchstick Piehouse format was stripped of all its property. Because of this, it’s fundraising for £15,000 to be raised by February 2025, in a bid to safe its grand opening later within the yr.

Explaining the way it landed on the determine, the organisers of the venue clarify that roughly £5,000 will likely be put in the direction of protecting employee co-op workers time between December 2024 and January 2025, whereas £2,500 will go in the direction of venue gear.

Equally, £2,500 will go in the direction of skilled consultancy to assist co-operative improvement & enterprise planning, £5,000 will go in the direction of hire. There may be additionally a stretch goal £5,000 contingency fund, which might cowl further prices akin to insurance coverage, accountancy charges, ongoing enterprise assist, utilities, and different bills.

Visit here to donate and for extra info.

Recalling what occurred to the £30,000 raised final yr, a press launch states: “The preliminary fundraiser was began by Matchstick Restricted, the corporate that ran Matchstick Piehouse, and was meant to cowl the rental arrears owed by Matchstick Restricted to the landlords.  Though this fundraiser almost reached its objective of £36K, the debt was finally greater than this, and after searching for authorized recommendation the administrators of Matchstick Restricted determined to file for insolvency.

“As there was no possible route for Matchstick Restricted to proceed working the venue, the cash raised needed to be refunded,” it continued. “For these of you that donated to a second fundraiser that totalled £8,000, this cash is essentially untouched and will likely be used for our preliminary deposit.”

Alongside asserting the plans to re-open as a staff’ co-op in 2025, organisers have additionally shared particulars of a fundraising occasion for the Piehouse co-op. It would happen tomorrow (December 11) on the Avalon Cafe, and is about to incorporate dwell music and poetry from a spread of longstanding piehouse artists and native expertise. Tickets will value £7 and you’ll find out more details here.

The struggles highlighted by Matchstick Piehouse mirror the issues for the UK dwell music scene, highlighted by Kate Nash in current weeks. The singer-songwriter has been tirelessly campaigning to convey consciousness to the hardships confronted by native venue house owners and rising artists.

Final month, she launched her Butts for Tour Buses marketing campaign, which noticed her be part of OnlyFans to protest the continuing monetary pressures going through the music business and assist elevate cash for her ongoing UK and European tour.

She additionally took her “bum on the again of a hearth truck” protest to the London places of work of Stay Nation and Spotify in addition to the Homes of Parliament to focus on the challenges going through artists and people working within the touring business.

In a press release to NME, Nash maintained that the worth of recorded music is “extraordinarily low” and the “value of presenting dwell music has gone up by 30.3 per cent over the previous two years” with 125 venues closing final yr within the UK — echoing issues raised by the Music Venue Belief final month.

Over the previous yr, there was mounting strain for the UK’s smaller venues to obtain a contribution from enviornment and stadium gigs to make sure their survival. The mannequin is just like the one seen within the Premiere League of soccer and already in use in a number of nations throughout Europe. It was additionally advisable by MPs after a DCMS investigation again in Spring, and pressures rose for bigger venues to begin assist earlier than being pressured to take action by the federal government.

Already, the likes of Coldplay, Enter Shikari and Sam Fender have all adopted a levy for his or her respective excursions to assist save the grassroots, after 2023 proved to be “disastrous” and the worst yr on document with 125 grassroots music venues shutting their doorways – a fee of two per week. The Music Venue Belief argued {that a} tidal wave of closures threatens the material of the UK music scene due to the current price range announcement, with the circuit and artists already affected by “the whole collapse of touring”.

Simply yesterday (December 9), it was confirmed that ASM International arenas had taken an enormous step in supporting the smaller brethren– becoming a member of forces with Music Venue Belief to assist grassroots websites throughout the nation.