Crofters Rights reopening as The Croft, it's previous name
Posted on: 15 May 2025MUSIC VENUE PROPERTIES ANNOUNCE SECOND COMMUNITY SHARE OFFERING TO PURCHASE ICONIC UK GRASSROOTS MUSIC VENUES UNDER ITS ‘OWN OUR VENUES’ INITIATIVE
Bristol’s The Croft (previously The Crofters Rights) among venues included in new acquisition plans and will be led by the team behind The Crown and Mother's Ruin in St Nicks Market, and Exchange in Old Market.
Music Venue Properties (MVP), the pioneering Charitable Community Benefit Society created by Music Venue Trust (MVT), has announced the launch of the next phase of its groundbreaking ‘Own Our Venues’ project — a bold initiative to secure the future of a further seven iconic grassroots music venues (GMVs) across the UK through community ownership.
The Own Our Venues initiative focuses on removing grassroots music venues from vulnerable commercial leases by placing them into community ownership. The aim is to provide long-term stability to venues that are essential for fostering local talent and providing cultural value to existing, local infrastructure.
Following the success of its first campaign in 2023, which raised £2.88 million and secured the future of venues including The Snug in Atherton, The Ferret in Preston, Le Pub in Newport, The Bunkhouse in Swansea and The Booking Hall in Dover, MVP is once again calling on music lovers and local communities to take action in order to protect vital cultural spaces.
The ‘cultural lease’ provides long-term security by offering stability that typical commercial leases, averaging just 18 months, cannot. These leases 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.
MVP have now announced plans to acquire a further seven venues via a second community share offer, which will open on May 15th 2025 and close on 31st July 2025. This will focus on the purchase of longstanding, iconic music spaces such as Esquires in Bedford, The Sugarmill in Stoke-on-Trent & The Joiners in Southampton, alongside key community hubs such as The Croft in Bristol, Peggy’s Skylight in Nottingham, The Lubber Fiend in Newcastle and The Pipeline in Brighton.
Established in 2000, The Croft was a cornerstone of Bristol’s live music scene, famed for its intimate 110-capacity live room and 250-capacity club space. It hosted early performances from major acts like Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, Ed Sheeran, IDLES, and Bring Me the Horizon. After operating as The Crofters Rights, the venue closed in August 2024, but plans are underway to revive it under its original name. The relaunch will be led by the teams behind The Mothers Ruin, The Crown, and Exchange—key players in Bristol’s vibrant music community.
Marc Griffiths, from World Famous Dive Bars said “We are really excited to be working with Music Venue Properties and the team at Exchange to bring The Croft back to Bristol. The team at World Famous Dive Bars are made up of musicians, promoters and music fans and we all see that a huge hole has been left in the Bristol grassroots music ecosystem since The Crofters Rights closed in August 2024. We are honored to be part of the effort to bring back this vital, and quite frankly legendary, GMV through community ownership.”
More information and other supporting documents are available on the Music Venue Properties website: www.musicvenueproperties.com
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