Deptford’s Matchstick Piehouse to re-open as workers’ co-op
The venue had to shut its doors last year after being unable to pay off rent arrears from the pandemic
Deptford venue Matchstick Piehouse is set to re-open as a workers’ co-op in early 2025.
In late 2023, the venue launched a crowdfund campaign after being threatened with closure by landlords. The south east London venue, which opened in 2018, is most famous for hosting weekly improv jazz nights with local collective Steam Down, and also put on poetry and folk nights as well as becoming a hub for the local punk scene.
They revealed to fans online last November that they were being forced by landlords to pay £36,000 by the end of the week or be forced to close. At the very start of this year, the venue said that “unfortunately, we haven’t reached a plausible settlement with the landlord” and the venue was forced to close.
They then revealed plans to form a workers’ co-op and fundraise to re-open the venue. This week, they then revealed that the new Piehouse Co-op is planning to re-open in early 2025 after a new co-op was formed by artists, ex-staff from the venue and more came together to form the organisation, with help from the Music Venue Trust.
In order to open, the venue needs to raise £15,000 by February 2025 for new lights, sound and furniture. You can support the crowdfunder here.
The crowdfunder reads: “South East London needs a DIY wheelchair accessible venue and community space, and we cant open without your support. The Piehouse offers a space for artists, activists, and community organisers to come together and create new work. The Piehouse provides a space for marginalised communities who are left out of other lineups, and at a time when venues are closing weekly throughout London, we need this space more than ever.”
Tomorrow (December 11), the Piehouse will host a fundraising event at the Avalon Cafe, featuring performances from Soft Wax, Ten Minute Tales, Pouya Ehsaei, Ku-Ro, and Josef Kurtz. You can buy tickets here.
Speaking to Rolling Stone UK last year, the venue’s co-founder Adam Gerrett outlined the issues that eventually led to the venue’s closure.
He told us: “We’ve had rent arrears that have accrued over time post-COVID that we’ve tried to shake successfully, and we’ve been on a payment plan. This year, a payment was made late, and that late payment triggered an escalation from the landlord to sell the total amounts of debts to bailiffs without notifying us.
“I had a bunch of bailiffs turn up [at the venue], and we remained closed for eight days while I tried to get hold of the landlords to see what was going on. They demanded that we pay the full amount of £36,000 with three working days notice.”