ABOUT
75 Argyle Street in Birkenhead is the home of one of the most exciting new music venues in the UK, a building that re-imagines the role of a live music venue, providing live industry training and a regional hub for artist development.
Future Yard is a 280-capacity music venue in the heart of Birkenhead, with artist rehearsal rooms in the basement and mixed-use spaces to host training programmes and private events. Our community venue has been bringing some of today’s most exciting new national and international artists to Wirral since we acquired the building in 2020, while at the same time providing key early performance opportunities for emerging local musicians.
Birkenhead – and Wirral – is a place with music in its DNA. Prior to Future Yard opening, the town did not have a dedicated live music venue where touring artists could perform alongside local artists. We believe that music venues are the maternity wards of creative culture. They are always the trailblazers, the first cultural flagpole when it comes to thinking about a place differently.
Our venue is run by Future Yard CIC – a non-profit focused on delivering Future Yard’s positive social and environmental impact, alongside realising our creative vision. As an organisation, we have committed to a long-term goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral grassroots music venue in the North of England, and one of the first in the UK. Our aim is to be operationally net zero by 2030, and fully net zero by 2035.
We believe that through utilising the power of music, we can change our town for the better, inspiring local people, creating life-changing opportunities and shaping a new music future.
THE FUTURE IS BIRKENHEAD
TIMELINE
2019 – Future Yard Festival
Future Yard festival took place across various sites and buildings in Birkenhead on a sunny August Bank Holiday in 2019. Bill Ryder-Jones and Anna Calvi headlined in the gorgeous surrounds of Birkenhead Town Hall; Black Country, New Road, Stella Donnelly and Nilüfer Yanya performed before the backdrop of the oldest building in Wirral, Birkenhead Priory, while overlooked by the RRS Sir David Attenborough (aka Boaty McBoatface) in dry dock at Cammell Laird; and Dry Cleaning, Squid and Working Men’s Club wowed the crowds in the nearby Bloom Building. As well as being an incredible two days, this event proved that there was an audience for new music in Birkenhead, and they just needed a home.
2020 – 75 Argyle Street
In early 2020, we found our home in the former Rocky’s and @75 nightclub on Argyle Street. In moving into a permanent home in early 2020, we wanted to create a place where we can present the best new artists all year round, not for just one weekend a year. Our plans to get started were soon dashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, however; and although we managed to do our first show in between lockdowns in 2020 – a socially-distanced affair for 60 people, headlined by She drew the gun – we had to wait a little longer to welcome music lovers inside.
“We believe that Future Yard is needed now, more than ever before,” said Future Yard co-founder and CEO Craig Pennington, upon launching in 2020. “True, it is a challenging time, but we believe the experience of lockdown has shown how powerful a community can be and we want to provide a space for our local community to come together. We’ve also seen an explosion in live streaming and digital performance, which has been hugely welcome and is here to stay, but this does not replace live music. People who love live music have acutely realised how important it is to them, how much of a role it plays in their lives. We’re committed to creating a new venue to champion and support new music in Birkenhead.”
2021-Present – Post-COVID and return to live
Since fully opening in the summer of 2021, we have played host to artists such as Gruff Rhys, OMD, Doves, Black Country New Road, English Teacher, Sugarhill Gang, The Zutons, Nubiyan Twist, Shame, Melt Yourself Down, Dry Cleaning, The Coral, Bodega and many more, with a programme encompassing the best in contemporary alternative, jazz, electronic and experimental music.
We are also committed to providing a range of pathways for local young people to develop the skills needed to embark on careers within the live music industry. Our Sound Check programme introduces young people to the skills needed to start a career in the live music industry, and so far has given almost 500 people from the region the opportunity to embark on a new career path. Propeller sees us working with early-stage local artists to assist them in navigating the modern music industry; New Noise is a music centre for teenagers to develop their music performance and songwriting skills in a supportive and encouraging environment alongside their peers; Mosh Tots is a chance for families to enjoy live music together, with the Sunday morning ‘gigs for kids’ fast becoming a favourite aspect of our activity; and Band Clubs are a chance for children aged 8-18 to develop their music playing and learn instruments in group and single classes. In 2025, we launched a pilot scheme with 13 Wirral primary schools to deliver an engaging, fun course of music learning in classrooms.
A huge focus of our activity is focused on our immediate neighbourhood, in particular the two postcodes of CH41 and CH42. Birkenhead is an area that has long been under served, and its residents have not had the opportunities to thrive that they deserve. We prioritise CH41 and CH42 – from distributing free tickets to ensuring places on our programmes – to make sure the people in the community where we are based benefit directly from what we do. The residents of Birkenhead and Tranmere, Bidston and St James, and Rock Ferry, which fall largely within the CH41 and CH42 postcodes, are some of our closest neighbours; we want to make sure that accessing live music and cultural events has as few barriers as possible.
2026 – Build Our Future
In March 2026, work begins on our next phase – the addition of a second performance space in place of our outdoor Garden area, and the addition of 12 mixed-use studio and teaching spaces in an ambitious development to our Argyle Street home. This will allow us to expand on all our activities, welcoming even more people to enjoy live music in Birkenhead, and providing vital development opportunities for the next generation. We will launch a fundraising campaign in February 2026 to support the final stage of this, working with the community to build a better future for everyone.
Future Yard is more than just a venue. It’s a learning lab, a training ground, a platform.