Experimental venue IKLECTIK to close at Peckham Levels, citing business rates
The South London venue said it sought relief rates as as a “cultural not-for-profit”, but was denied Continue reading...
South London music venue IKLECTIK has announced its closure at its current home in Peckham, citing Southwark Council’s denial of the business rates relief the venue sought as a non-profit.
The experimental music venue, which reopened for the first time in two years last October, said that it will no longer continue to operate at Peckham Levels from October 25.
"A major factor has been the denial of the business rates relief we sought as a cultural not-for-profit, despite a long appeals process supported by cultural organisations, local councillors and Music Venue Trust," they wrote in an Instagram statement on Tuesday, August 25.
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The team behind the venue said that uncertainty has loomed for several months, and that the "current business rates system does not reflect the reality of grassroots cultural spaces" like IKLECTIK.
IKLECTIK’s team also said that they have invested “significantly” into the venue, which currently sits within an indoor gig space in Peckham Levels, and that the venue’s income is "continually reinvested into artists, programming and cultural opportunities".
"Combined with the higher costs of running a venue and our continued reliance on a gig-revenue model, these conditions posed too great a financial risk and would have compromised both the nature and aims of our programming and the well-being of our team."
As it stands, the venue will close on October 25, with final programming revealed soon. IKLECTIK urged its community to show support by attending its last events. "Every ticket and every person in the room helps us recover, rebuild and shape what comes next," they said.
IKLECTIK took over its Peckham space last October after it was shuttered at its former Waterloo site in 2023. It said at the time that it would return as a "year-round hub for live experimental music, cross-disciplinary performance, and community engagement."
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