Music Venue Trust announces first venue acquisition in its groundbreaking scheme.

The Snug in Atherton on the edge of Greater Manchester is a 100 capacity venue that has just made history. The venue has become the first grassroots music venue to be purchased by Music Venue Properties  the independent Charitable Community Benefit Society (CCBS), created by Music Venue Trust to progress its plans to revolutionise cultural ownership in the UK.

Music Venue Trust (MVT) is the UK charity which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues. Instead of venues being beholden to landlords the plan is to eventually get the venues to own themselves. The project was made possible by over 1200 individual investors including £500,000 investment from both Arts Council England and Arts & Culture Finance to secure these vital community assets for the long term.

MVP has now secured the freehold of the building occupied by The Snug and has placed it into permanent protected status. The venue’s current operators have signed a ‘cultural lease’, which is an innovative agreement specifically created by MVP to guarantee that, as long as The Snug operates as a space for grassroots live music for their local community, they can enjoy the use of the building.