Shropshire's Alberts Shed group welcomes cuts to business rates for small music venues

The people behind Albert’s Shed, with sites in both towns, welcomed Government commitment to reduce business rates by 50 per cent for venues with a rateable value below £51,000.

It has been estimated that the move will save venues an average of £7,500 a year, and will release more than £1.7 million back into grassroots live music.

A spokesman for Albert’s Shed said: “Since the beginning of our first Shed in Shrewsbury, we have been pushing original, grassroots music by supporting local artists and providing a platform to showcase their original music and help them build the toolkit needed to find shows beyond Shropshire.

"The new Southwater site gives us even more opportunity to introduce more people in Shropshire to the wealth of original talent out there.

“So the Government recognising the importance of grassroots music venues is a massive step forward in our campaign to provide the very best entertainment at affordable prices.”

The Music Venue Trust said 35 per cent of grassroots music venues across the country had closed in the last decade. Beverley Whitrick, strategic director at the trust, said: “This is a much-needed and long overdue boost for grassroots music venues.

“Music Venue Trust has been working hard with government on this issue for the last four years and it is a huge breakthrough for us and the members of the Music Venues Alliance. We’d like to thank our partners at UK Music and Musicians’ Union for their support and help in getting this over the line.”

But Mark Davyd, CEO and founder of the trust, said: “There’s still a lot to be done on this specific issue.

“This issue can be tackled, and it needs a broad coalition of key stakeholders to do that.

“Government, the cultural sector and the live music industry have all acted in the last 12 months to address the crisis in this sector. It’s now time for recording, streaming and publishing interests to play their part.”