Music Venue Properties announce second £500,000 loan facility agreement with Figurative

Music Venue Properties (MVP), the pioneering Charitable Community Benefit Society created by Music Venue Trust (MVT), has announced a second £500,000 loan agreement with Figurative – an independent not-for-profit supporting impact, investment and innovation in the cultural and creative sector (CCS) – who have been longstanding supporters of its mission to secure the future of UK grassroots music venues (GMVs).

This funding will further accelerate the second ‘Own Our Venues’ campaign, launched last month with the aim of purchasing and protecting the freeholds of a further seven iconic GMVs: The Joiners (Southampton), Bedford Esquires, The Croft (Bristol), The Sugarmill (Stoke), Peggy’s Skylight (Nottingham), The Pipeline (Brighton), and The Lubber Fiend (Newcastle).

To date, this latest campaign has raised over £210,000 through community shares, music industry investment, and match funding with over 370 individual investors. Every pound raised through community shares and industry investment helps unlock further support, highlighting the transformative power and importance of collective investment and funding.

Figurative previously provided a £500,000 loan from its Arts & Culture Impact Fund during the first Own Our Venues campaign in 2022, which enabled MVP to secure the freeholds of five GMVs across the UK. This second tranche of funding will now be visible on the campaign’s current Crowdfunder page, which shows both the total raised and the campaign’s overall campaign target.

The Own Our Venues initiative focuses on removing grassroots music venues from vulnerable commercial leases by placing them into community ownership. The overarching aim is to provide long-term stability to venues that are essential for fostering local talent and providing cultural value to existing, local infrastructure.

The ‘cultural lease’ arrangement offered under this initiative provides long-term security by offering stability that typical commercial leases, averaging just 18 months, cannot. These ensure fair, sustainable rent, annual contributions toward essential maintenance, and ongoing support in areas such as financial sustainability and operational best practice. This comprehensive support helps venues focus on their mission to bring music to their local communities while shielding them from the financial pressures of the commercial lease market.

Rachel Green, Chief Investment Officer, Figurative said, “We’re delighted to be supporting MVP with this second impact investment loan from the Arts & Culture Impact Fund. Our mission at Figurative is to drive innovation for a thriving cultural and creative sector, and MVP represents a compelling opportunity to back an innovative, mission-aligned venture that is game-changing for grassroots music venues across the UK. Their pioneering approach to protecting venues demonstrates the power of community investment to attract support and further funding such as ours.”

Matthew Otridge, Chief Operating Officer of MVP said, “”We are incredibly grateful to Figurative for backing Music Venue Properties once again. Their renewed support plays a vital role in amplifying a mission-aligned, community-driven initiative that’s transforming the future of grassroots music venues across the UK. Just as they were instrumental in the success of our first Own Our Venues campaign, where nearly £3m was raised, they’re now helping us go further. Crucially, it’s the collective power of our community investors that makes this possible. Every pound invested signals public, and industry belief in this vision, helping to unlock further backing and build a sustainable, community-powered future for live music which brings together a variety of funding support.”

More information and other supporting documents are available on the Music Venue Properties website: www.musicvenueproperties.com