22/01/2026
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More than half of Britain’s grassroots music venues recorded no profit at all over the past year. In all, 53 per cent didn’t get into the black, with the average profit margin for those that did coming in at just 2.5 per cent. Almost all are “one financial shock away from crisis”.
The warning comes from Music Venue Trust’s annual report for 2025, which highlights increasing costs, changes to business rates and National Insurance as insurmountable to many venues.
It also found that, despite the grassroots music industry contributing more than half a billion pounds to the economy annually, in 2025 30 venues had permanently closed, and there were 6,000 fewer jobs in the sector, a drop of almost a fifth. In the past year, the organisation assisted in 205 emergency cases – more than one every two days.
Read the full story 🔗 https://www.kerrang.com/british-grassroots-venues-remain-financially-fragile-according-to-new-report-music-venue-trust-mark-davyd
