Le Pub Newport is secured as our 5th Music Venue Property

Purchase protects the future of popular Newport Grassroots Music Venue 

Special celebratory event to take place at the venue on the evening of January 10th  

Music Venue Properties (MVP) has announced the latest venue to join its portfolio: Le Pub in Newport. This exciting acquisition is part of MVP’s mission to safeguard grassroots music venues across the UK, ensuring that they remain cultural hubs for their communities. Known for its rich history and role in live music and events, Le Pub will now benefit from long-term security under MVP’s #OwnOurVenues initiative.  

Dubbed The National Trust for Grassroots Music Venues (GMVs), #ownourvenues was originally launched in 2022 as a crowdfunded project. To date almost £2.8m has been raised from over 1300 individual investors and funding. 

The scheme has received additional support from the Community Ownership Fund including £250k to realise the purchase of Le Pub. 

Le Pub, also known as Le Public Space, has been a cornerstone of Newport’s music scene since its opening in 1992. Renowned for its vibrant atmosphere, the venue operates as a bar, restaurant, and nightclub, hosting live music from big names like Skindred and Kids in Glass Houses, and events that have defined the city’s cultural landscape. Despite challenges in the 2000s, including a relocation to new premises, Le Pub has remained a beacon of creativity and resilience. Now, under MVP’s #OwnOurVenues initiative, the venue has secured its future, eliminating the uncertainty of closure and reinforcing its role as a community pillar for years to come. 

Samantha Dabb, the manager of Le Pub, said: “We are very excited to be part of the Music Venue Properties family of owned venues. Having a landlord who is as passionate about live music as we are, will make a massive difference to us and guarantee the venue’s future in Newport.” 

Sam Duckworth, who performs as Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, said: “Grassroots Music Venues are places where communities live. I am lucky to have been hosted by many over my career and they show you the personality, spirit and heartbeat of the community they call home. South Wales is a wonderful part of the world, full of a unique mixture of fight, creativity and heart. Le Pub is the true embodiment of a community venue. It looks out for the people of Newport who love it and treasure it in return. Its permanence is a wonderful thing. A decade ago, I sponsored a toilet to help keep it open, now it lives forever.” 

Securing the future of Grassroots Venues 

MVP’s #OwnOurVenues project, which launched in 2022, 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 our communities. The purchase of Le Pub marks another step forward for MVP, joining an ever-growing network of protected spaces across the UK. 

Samantha Dabb said: “In the two and a half years since we applied to the MVP pilot scheme, we have grown our staff and increased our live offering. We have also built a practice room and studio in the basement which enables us to support the Newport music scene even more. Now that we are secure in the long-term future of the venue, we’d love to look at renovating the upper floors of the building so we can open them for our community to use.” 

Matthew Otridge, COO of Music Venue Properties, said: “For years, Le Pub have been at the forefront of the Community Shares movement amongst the GMV Community, so it feels only right their long-term future has now been secured by Music Venue Properties, an organisation that would not have existed if not for Community Shares and those like Le Pub who paved the way. I'm grateful to be a part of this amazing story and look forward now to working alongside Le Pub and its community of investors to help realise its vision for the rest of the building”. 

UK Government Minister, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government), Alex Norris said: “The Community Ownership Fund protects venues and spaces that help bring communities together, and it’s brilliant to see Newport’s Le Pub as another local treasure to benefit from it. I’ve no doubt the local community will be delighted to see this space continue to thrive now that its long-term future has been secured.” 

Welsh Government’s Minister for Creative Industries, Jack Sargeant, said:  

“I’m delighted Music Venue Properties have added a second Welsh music venue to their growing portfolio. Own Our Venues is a fantastic, pioneering initiative and today’s news that Le Pub’s future has been secured will be celebrated by artists and live music fans in Newport and the wider South East Wales region”  

Mark Davyd, Founder of Music Venue Trust, said: "Le Pub was one of the very first venues to join the Music Venues Alliance, and has been, for the last ten years, one of the most vocal and active campaigning voices about the importance of grassroots music venues to our communities, towns and cities. Le Pub sits right at the heart of the blossoming Newport live music scene and is absolutely central to the future of Welsh music. To see it taken into protected ownership, guaranteeing its future for decades to come, is a huge step forward for live music in Wales and a beacon of what can be achieved through projects like Music Venue Properties."