Most grassroots venues failed to make a profit in 2025, new report reveals
A new report from the Music Venue Trust has revealed that most grassroots venues in the UK failed to turn a profit in 2025.
The report, published on January 21st, provides a thorough analysis of the state of the grassroots sector in the United Kingdom, providing both reasons to celebrate and causes for concern.
On a positive note, there has only been a slight decrease in the number of grassroots venues across the United Kingdom, but it is relatively low compared with other years.
There are now a total of 801 trading grassroots venues in the UK, which represents the lowest rate of decline (1.2 per cent) since 2018, and suggests that the sector is becoming stable.
It also noted that many venues up and down the country, in a bid for a more secure future, have diversified their business. Notably, the number of venues opening as bars or restaurants outside of their live music provision increased from 34.2 per cent to 65.5 per cent in 2025.
However, worryingly, 53.8 per cent of GMVs reported no profit in the last 12 months. The Music Venue Trust added, “Across the whole GMV sector, the average profit margin remained critically low at just 2.5 per cent.”
The report highlighted that these venues contribute £500 million annually to the UK economy, yet despite the value that the sector adds both financially and culturally, they are struggling to survive.
Music Venue Trust CEO and founder Mark Davyd has also made a plea to the government for support, revealing that 6,000 jobs (close to 22 per cent of the total workforce) have been lost in the sector due to business rates and a hike in national insurance contributions.
Davyd said, “We have pushed these music venues as far as they can go. These 6,000 job losses didn’t happen because grassroots venues failed. It happened because people keep have been making poor decisions at a political, policy and structural level with the ridiculous expectation that the smallest, most fragile part of the live music ecosystem would be able to quietly absorb the consequences.”
He also mourned the potential talent that has now been forced to leave the live music industry, adding, “We don’t know what talent we’ve lost. We don’t know which future promoters, engineers, managers, venue operators or artists quietly slipped out of the ecosystem without anyone noticing. That long term loss is invisible in the short term, and it is exactly why it is so dangerous.”
Currently, there is a voluntary £1 ticket levy that has been used by artists, including Sam Fender and Mumford and Sons, to support grassroots venues, which the Music Venue Trust has demanded the government make the law for all artists performing at arenas and stadiums.
Davyd warned, “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.”
The full report can be viewed here.
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