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The staff behind independent live music venue The Silver Bullet have lost their battle to block a buyout.

They needed £300,000 to buy the lease back from Goodman Restaurant Group, owners of the upmarket Burger and Lobster chain.

But their crowdfunding effort came to a close on Monday, just short of £13,000, raised in the month since their campaign started.


Co-manager of the Finsbury Park bar Anna Naylor said staff were disappointed but were now looking to see if they could start up elsewhere.

“We’ve been hugely inspired and grateful for the amount of people that have got behind us,” she said. “There have been so many messages of love and support for The Silver Bullet. It was loved by so many people.”

The staff were fighting an uphill battle after finding out just weeks ago that owner Enterprise Inns sold the lease to Goodman.

The Station Place bar, operating as a music venue since 2010, hosted live acts seven nights a week and had a licence until 4am every day.

As well as performances from Rudimental, Laura Marling, Don Letts and The Maccabees, the 200-capacity venue nurtured upcoming talent from a wide range of genres.

Music stars, including singer John Newman, who started his career at the bar, backed the campaign. Staff received a visit from their MP, Jeremy Corbyn, last week.

London has lost 40 per cent of its live music venues in the past 10 years.

Anna said staff are determined to launch a new venue but admitted that finding a similar location with a 4am licence every night would be “nigh on impossible”. She added: “A spot like that really should be for live music.”

Goodman operations director David Strauss has said he intends to create a bar for people finishing work late, but did not want to create something “completely gentrified”.