‘Reintroducing Grassroots Spaces Into Active Touring Routes’: UK MVT Details Work Progress

Music Venue Trust (MVT), the UK charity representing hundreds of UK grassroots music venues (GMVs), has unveiled a new package of funding and initiatives designed to tackle the long-term economic challenges facing UK grassroots music venues, alongside the publication of a new booklet, “Developing The Future of Grassroots Music Venues”.

These projects form the first phase of delivery by Music Venue Trust (MVT), which includes a £200,000 ($270,000) funding allocation from The LIVE Trust, as part of a wider industry-backed initiative to stabilize and rebuild the UK’s grassroots live music infrastructure.

The funding comes from a voluntary industry contribution of £1 per ticket on shows over 5,000 capacity, and is allocated to expert music industry organizations that can have an immediate and positive impact across the grassroots music sector. The MVT is one of them.

See: UK LIVE Trust Distributes $687,000 In Phase One Funding

The money is being used in “a coordinated program of infrastructure upgrades is now underway at grassroots music venues, targeting the core barriers that have restricted touring, increased costs and reduced venue viability in recent years,” according to a press release from MVT, which continues “production systems are being upgraded, artist accommodation is being built, energy audits are in progress and touring activity is returning to locations that have fallen off the national circuit.”

At the centre of the rollout is a focus on upgrading the physical and operational foundations of venues. Through MVT’s ‘Raise The Standard’ initiative, capital investment is being deployed into sound, lighting and backline systems, improving production quality while increasing the commercial competitiveness of grassroots spaces within the live market.

In parallel, artist accommodation, a key constraint on tour routing, is being addressed through projects already in delivery under the ‘Stay The Night’ and ‘Feel At Home’ initiatives.

Work has already been completed at Voodoo Daddy’s (Norwich), with construction due to begin at Firebug (Leicester). Projects to support artist touring are entering build phases at The Independent (Sunderland) and 2Funky Music Café (Leicester), with further developments progressing at Lubber Fiend (Newcastle), XOYO (Birmingham) and Piehouse Co-op (London). Additional sites in Sheffield and London remain subject to local match-funding approvals.

See: LIVE Trust UK Details Grassroots Music Sector Help

The objective is to increase the number of venues that can practically and financially support touring artists, particularly in regions where infrastructure gaps have reduced the number of viable stops.

Energy costs are being addressed in parallel. Through the new ‘Off The Grid’ programme, audits are currently underway at Future Yard (Birkenhead), The Globe (Cardiff) and The Exchange (Bristol), with solar and battery installations planned to reduce and ultimately eliminate long-term energy costs.

Aside from work on venues, grassroots touring itself is being rebuilt alongside these interventions. Working with Save Our Scene, This Feeling, AGMP and other Association of Independent Promoters’ members, MVT is reconnecting artists, promoters and venues in markets that have seen sustained decline and reintroducing grassroots spaces into active touring routes.

MVT’s ‘Liveline’ initiative has already supported over 75 completely new events in 28 secondary and tertiary towns and cities in the first 3 months of 2026 alone, creating work for 21 grassroots touring artists and dozens of supporting local & regional acts. Hundreds more events spread across dozens of tours are already contracted or under negotiation and will be delivered throughout the rest of the year.

Alongside infrastructure and touring interventions, MVT’s funding is also supporting direct venue stabilization. Through its existing Venue Support Team and ‘Emergency Response Hardship Fund’, venues in immediate financial distress are receiving targeted assistance, while the ‘Venue MOT’ program is working with operators to improve efficiency and address structural cost issues.

The UK live music sector contributes £6.7 billion to the economy and supports 230,000 jobs, but rising production, touring and operating costs have placed increasing strain on grassroots venues, promoters and artists. That pressure is reflected in MVT’s latest Annual Report, which highlights than half of UK grassroots music venues reported no profit in 2025, while cost increases linked to National Insurance and business rates contributed to the loss of approximately 6,000 jobs. Over the same period, 30 venues closed permanently, and 175 towns and cities, home to an estimated 25 million people, no longer receive regular touring shows by professional artists. In addition, average profit margins across the sector remain at just 2.5%.

Beverley Whitrick, COO of Music Venue Trust, said, “Grassroots music venues cannot keep being expected to survive on goodwill and admiration alone. If the UK music industry is serious about protecting the talent pipeline, then it has to get serious about the economics that underpin it. This funding and the initiatives we are delivering are about practical change, lowering costs, improving infrastructure, rebuilding touring and creating a sector that is more resilient, more investable and fit for the future. Our goal is clear; don’t just fund problems, fix them.”

See: The Bodega Nottingham Crowned Grassroots Champion At UK LIVE Awards

Since its formation in 2014, Music Venue Trust has played a central role in sector advocacy, including campaigning for a grassroots ticket levy and in turn playing a key role in the creation of The LIVE Trust. This current phase of activity represents a transition from policy development into implementation at scale. For the wider music industry, the program highlight the direct link between grassroots music venue sustainability and the long-term health of the live music economy.

Further detail on the initiatives, including opportunities for industry participation, is available in MVT’s newly published booklet, “Developing The Future of Grassroots Music Venues”, now accessible here.

Subscribe to Pollstar HERE