Rachel Reeves crushes Britain’s reside music trade: Grassroots bars and golf equipment lose THOUSANDS of workers and dozens of venues shut their doorways after Labour’s tax raids

More than 6,000 people working in Britain’s grassroots music venues lost their jobs in the wake of Rachel Reeves‘ swingeing National Insurance hikes last year, a new report has claimed.

The Music Venue Trust (MVT), which works to protect Britain’s gig venues, says the total workforce fell dramatically after employers’ NI contributions were hiked to 15 per cent and business rates relief was cut from 75 per cent to 40 per cent.

These cuts were introduced by Rachel Reeves in her first Autumn Budget and came into effect last April – leaving hundreds of small venues on their knees.

Writing in its annual report published today, the MVT says operators of grassroots venues have had to slash the number of people they employ just to remain afloat.

Overall, the workforce fell from 30,865 people in 2024 to 24,742 last year, representing a fifth of the entire workforce in the sector, as bosses culled part-time and freelance roles in lighting, sound and customer service.

Grassroots venues can be anything from a dedicate performance space for a few hundred people to rooms above pubs with space for just a few dozen.  

On average, each venue now has 15.5 full-time equivalent staff, and has slashed freelance and casual roles from 20.7 to 7.6. These cuts, employers told the MVT, were ‘unavoidable’. Many only survive with the help of volunteers.

Even then, venues are operating on shoestring budgets, with more than half failing to report a profit last year despite the sector contributing more than half a billion pounds to the economy. The average profit margin is just 2.5 per cent.

Music venues have shed 6,000 staff in the last year amid swingeing hikes to National Insurance and cuts to business rates introduced by Rachel Reeves in 2024’s Autumn Budget 

Mark Dafyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, wants to see music venues given special tax rates so they can continue delivering future British stars

British band Wolf Alice was among the earliest to commit to donating a proportion of ticket sales to a new grassroots fund for live music (pictured: singer Ellie Rowsell performing in 2022)

Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, is calling for the Government to reform the way that music venues are taxed – and has shared the worrying findings with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Treasury. 

The Trust wants to see VAT cut for gig tickets at small venues, business rates relief and discretionary alcohol duty cuts for venues to help generate income. It estimates that music venues were hit with an additional £7million tax bill as a result last year. 

‘We have reached the limits of what venues can absorb on margins of 2.5 per cent,’ Mr Davyd said today. 

‘This sector has done all it can to keep music live in our communities, it now needs permanent protection, structural reform, and leadership that recognises grassroots venues as essential national infrastructure.’

The consequences of bleak finances are stark – for venues, performers and music lovers. Most of Britain’s best-known musicians got their breaks in grassroots venues, playing to empty pubs and local venues until spotted by talent scouts and promoters.

But almost six in 10 venues in Britain operate without any major promoters, cutting them off from the professional touring industry.

The MVT estimates that some 175 towns and cities, 35 million people in all, never have a major performing artist visit their town on tour.

And a total of 78 venues have either closed outright or abandoning their efforts to support live music. Of those, 40 said they could not afford to keep running.

The MVT has also stepped in to help more than 100 venues that were struggling with their finances – venues that, it says, Britain needs to continue producing some of the world’s biggest pop and rock stars.

It is investing £2million into schemes designed to support struggling venues with everything from helping them to save money to energy bills. 

Many of those who got their start in small venues are helping to lead the fightback in the form of a ‘grassroots levy’ – that sees a portion of their ticket sales donated to a fund dedicated to supporting local scenes.

Huge artists like Coldplay, Pulp, Wolf Alice, Pulp, Lorde and even film composer Hans Zimmer were among those to set aside a chunk of their UK income for the levy, which will be funneled back into grassroots music.

Venues including the O2 and the Royal Albert Hall have also committed to contributing towards the newly established LIVE Trust, which will coordinate the distribution of funds.

The MVT will receive grants from LIVE for its own initiative, the Liveline Fund, which it will use to help fund live music tours in lesser-visited UK towns and cities.

The Government is supporting the levy on a voluntary basis – but the Trust has gone a step further and says ministers must make it a legal requirement of gig ticket sales if an optional Levy has not demonstrated its worth by June.

Mr Davyd added: ‘The future of British music depends on stabilising and rebuilding the grassroots touring network. 

‘The arrival of Grassroots Levy funding in 2026 will provide the opportunity to take a radical new approach and that is exactly what we intend to do. 

‘The music industry itself is in the last chance saloon with regards to the levy; if voluntary industry action does not deliver by June 2026, the government must legislate.’

Responding to the report, creative industries minister, Ian Murray said: ‘Grassroots venues are vital to the UK’s music culture, offering emerging artists a platform, supporting local economies and creative jobs. 

‘That is why we are committed to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem, and continue to encourage the live music industry to adopt a voluntary £1 levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows to help safeguard the future of grassroots music alongside our £30m music growth fund and our record innovation funding.’

The Treasury was contacted for comment.