Former music venue workers launch takeover bid

Workers previously protested outside the bar over pay and safety concerns

Former staff at one of Glasgow’s best known music venues have lodged a bid to take over the property.

The 13th Note on the city's King Street went into voluntary liquidation in July after workers staged a strike over pay and safety concerns.

At the time the owner said she was "devastated" to close the bar and claimed it had been "driven to insolvency" by Unite Hospitality.

Staff at the bar later won 90 days worth of wages when an employment tribunal judge found the business had broken employment laws.

Now the workers want to re-open the 13th Note as a multi-purpose social and cultural centre providing live music, food and drinks.

They say it would be democratically run by frontline staff and they would ensure workers get "the best pay and conditions in the sector".

Currently the space is managed by City Property, which oversees Glasgow City Council's longer term commercial leases.

The plan says that workers would control the business and determine their own pay and conditions while investing profits back into the venue as well as community outreach programmes.

The takeover bid also sets out plans to make the bar's recording studio available for new artists to use.

Former 13th Note worker Nick Troy said that as workers they "bore witness to the failures of the private ownership model in operating, nurturing and sustaining a venue of such social and cultural importance".

The bar went into liquidation last July after staff went on strike

He added: "It is this experience that has led us to believe that the workers’ cooperative model - in which the workplace will be run democratically by frontline staff - is the best avenue for the 13th Note."

Unite has backed the plans after supporting staff throughout the dispute at the venue.

Brendan Armstrong, a fellow 13th Note worker, said the plan had already received "incredible support from thousands of punters, artists and workers".

He added: “It’s now over to City Property and Glasgow City Council to determine what kind of hospitality sector they want in this city."

A City Property spokesperson said: "A closing date was set for 13 June. We’re assessing all offers and cannot provide any further comment."