On 7th October, Tess and Adam found themselves standing outside closed shutters – those of their own shop. Days earlier they’d hosted a licensed street gig outside their venue, Café Blah. But they couldn’t get in. They’d been locked out by their landlord, who had reportedly changed the locks in the early morning, evicting them without notice. All of this played out live on the venue’s Instagram stories.
Just a day later and after much effort, the owner duo were finally let in to retrieve their belongings and musicians’ equipment. Sensing they had no other choice, they pulled the shutters down and locked themselves in, refusing to leave.
After a month of what seems like unrelenting attacks on independent Mancunian venues, people were fuming. And rightly so, as this is just the latest development in an increasingly anti-person Manchester – a city which is lauded as the cultural hub of the North.
What is Café Blah?
Café Blah is a small independent venue based in Withington, four miles from the city centre. It is predominantly known for its promotion and elevation of young creatives in the area, putting on poetry nights and gigs at no hire cost for the people producing them. Holly Gibson, co-founder of Sour Theatre Collective, tells me how Blah gave her the space and opportunity to launch her poetry nights.
“Blah gave Sour a platform allowing young poets to showcase their skills and connect with their community,” she says. “And community is at the heart of everything Adam and Tess do. Blah is a haven for the regulars and locals in the area.”
Max Hutchinson, founder of Sweetface – a DIY promoter and publication – echoes this, telling me that “Café Blah is most known for its ethos in regards to supporting artists, musicians, and the wider local community as a hub for creativity and freedom of expression.”
“It has helped me a lot over the years as an independent promoter with my project, allowing me to host live performances, events, film screenings.”
In short, Café Blah is a proper arty community space – a place that puts people over profit.
How’d it all kick off?
A day after the shutters were locked, Café Blah again went to Instagram to lay out the trouble they’d been having with their landlords, H Homes, over the last year – particularly over new lease terms. “We had agreed to new lease terms. We had agreed to new lease amounts later ignored. Leases sent with mistakes on…” they wrote.
“…A new person seemed to take over the negotiations and then attempted to put our rent up by approximately 68%… They turned up to our cafe unannounced when only one of us was working, and we had customers in the front. They advised us not to get legal help and that it would be very costly…”
According to Blah’s owners, they issued a Section 26 in order to request a new lease. This was met by objections from H Homes, who Blah says told them that they planned to use the space for their own business purposes. In fact, a listing for the property on Zoopla had been found that very morning.
They go on to state that their Section 26 expired without notice. Two days after the Party For The People event, the door locks were changed at roughly 9:30 a.m., something they say is captured on CCTV. To add to this, all the gear owned by performers from the weekend was locked inside. Finally, after initially agreeing to meet H Homes to gain access to the cafe, the pair locked themselves in “We have built this cafe up over four years and they expect us to remove our personal possessions in their specific time windows,” they wrote from inside the building. “We are heartbroken, shocked and scared…”
Manchester’s gentrification can only be stopped by us
Outrage has erupted in the Withington community and spilled further across Manchester. WeAreWithington, an Instagram account dedicated to the community, took to their own socials to share their outrage, posting “Shame on greedy landlords… Withington high street will be a MUCH MUCH poorer place if this is allowed to happen.”
Withington Labour Party stated that they were “shocked and saddened at what’s happening with Café Blah,” and are reportedly working with local Labour Councillors and MP for Manchester Withington Jeff Smith on the issue.
Unfortunately, this battle for independents is not a singular issue. We are watching, in real time, an attempt to push those who value community over profit out from the city.
Holly tells me “Anyone who’s in and around Manchester can see the face of the city changing and not for the better. Manchester’s culture is built on community and we must protect it.” And she’s right. We are witnessing the attempt by the wealthy – landlords, property developers – to gentrify the city completely. Long-running independents replaced with apartment blocks. Your local knocked down for a chain. Let’s not even go there with Ancoats. Manchester’s gentrification has been ongoing for some time, but that does not make pushback any less urgent.
And there is pushback. People want these spaces; people are fighting for these spaces. If they do not, they will simply disappear.
The Carlton Club is another community-oriented, independent venue based in the neighbouring suburb of Chorlton. On 21st August, they too announced via socials that they had been served an eviction notice. The owner of Rowan Lodge, where the Carlton Club operates from, allegedly stated in the eviction notice that they wanted to remove the Carlton Club in order to run their own business from the site.
There is a clear trend of property owners willing to completely disregard communities that value these businesses wanting to uproot them in the name of profit profit profit.
I reached out to the Carlton Club to speak about the pressure on independents in Manchester. “Communities need safe and welcoming places where people can meet, socialise and be creative,” they told me. “It’s more important than ever in an age of increasing loneliness, and it’s up to all of us to protect them for the future.” The Carlton Club managed to extend their eviction due to strong public support, and raised £25,000 in five weeks. They told me they have been “blown away by the love and support.”
The public of Manchester have power, then. They also assisted strongly in the case of Withington Public Hall, which recently found itself in financial trouble. On 22nd August, Withington Public Hall’s team wrote online that it was “reassured and uplifted” after raising £2096 at their fundraiser weekend, following an announcement of closure or reduced hours a few weeks prior. At this fundraiser, people from the community willingly showed up to DJ, play in bands, perform poetry, and more to help raise funds. Withington Public Hall described it as “a big step on the road to a sustainable future.” We must share this solidarity with Café Blah too, and every last one of our much-loved independents.
If not, we submit to watching the erasure of Manchester’s identity even more, one space at a time. We say goodbye to its authenticity, its nurtured and essential communal creative spaces. This is not a tirade against new buildings or development – it is a protest against the erasure of culture and the callous ejection of people from their livelihoods. I am vehemently against the city becoming too expensive for Mancunians to live in. I am against Manchester becoming inhospitable for the people who live there.
“The best action that can be taken at the moment is spreading awareness so that the powers that be are forced to act themselves,” Max tells me, when I ask how we can help Café Blah.
Holly signifies the importance of the loss at scale, declaring that “If we don’t take action there won’t be venues like Blah left. If you’re in a financial position to do so, spend, use your pennies in local venues you love and want to continue.” At time of writing, a crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help Blah’s owners find a new space.
I love this city, I really do, and I know I’m one of many who doesn’t want to see its culture and communities erased further. Your voice means so much more than you might think – Withington Public Hall and The Carlton Club are just the most recent examples of that. Save community. Fight greed. Fight for the places you love.
STAT Magazine reached out to H Homes for comment but did not receive a reply.
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