‘We don’t want money going to private landlords’: UK music venues turn to community ownership

‘We can look at things in terms of decades’ … the team at Bristol Exchange, who are using a community investment model Photograph: -

Just 24 hours before playing to one of the largest audiences on Earth, Paul McCartney could be found blasting out Hey Jude to a room of just 850 screaming fans in Frome, Somerset. His Glastonbury warmup show took place at the Cheese and Grain, a not-for-profit, member-owned venue.

“He gave a stonkingly wonderful performance,” says venue director Steve Macarthur. “One of his considerations for selecting us was he liked the fact that we were a community-controlled not-for-profit outfit with a commitment to training local people to fill jobs.”