Bradford Live is not dead: new operator found for troubled Yorkshire venue

The Guardian

24-03-2025

In many ways, it was the kind of marketing that money simply could not buy. Bradford Live, a new 3,900-capacity, city-centre entertainment venue, was splashed over the pages of local newspapers, made the subject of Facebook groups and even afforded national headlines. Unfortunately, it was for the wrong reasons.
The exceptionally well-restored West Yorkshire concert hall was brimming with possibilities, but was unable to open in November as planned because there was no operator in place to run it.
To make matters worse, it had been funded with £50m from the public purse – most of which was paid for locally by a council with a budget crisis.
However, that chapter in the 95-year-old building's history looks finally set to close, after a deal was struck with Trafalgar Entertainment, which runs 19 other venues in the UK including the Glasgow Pavilion and London's Trafalgar and Olympia theatres, and Theatre Royal Sydney in Australia.
Acts are being confirmed, staff are being hired, and there is a new sense of optimism in the city that the venue really will open within the next six months.
'Generations of people have been coming here for shows, for the ballroom, when it was a bingo hall, when it was a cinema,' said councillor Alex Ross-Shaw.
'Literally generation after generation has their own memories of this venue, and that's why there was such a huge public campaign to save it. Being able to do that and secure its future so that the next generations can build those memories, it's been really fantastic.'
The Midlands-based NEC Group pulled out of the original deal to run the venue in September last year, just months before it was due to open. Locals who had fought to save it from demolition were frustrated, and Ross-Shaw said it became 'the biggest talking point' in the city.
He was unable to say anything while the tender process was ongoing – and while the council dealt with a budget crisis and unpopular council tax rises. 'But it's great to be able to talk about it now and it's all very exciting,' he added.
Bradford has taken a beating when it comes to local authority cuts. Since 2011, £350m has been cut from its budget, and rising demand for council services has created a 'perfect storm', Ross-Shaw said.
About two-thirds of what the council spends goes on social care for children and adults. The city is home to some of the most deprived wards in England and poverty is on a scale rarely seen in other parts of the country. According to Ross-Shaw, the investment in Bradford Live amounted to 0.4% of the council's overall budget.
'If we don't want to be completely relying on central government for the future of Bradford, we have to be able to generate our own revenues and business rates, grow the economy, grow housing,' he said. 'Having a regeneration programme is inevitably going to be part of that, and Bradford deserves that investment.
'We saw that there was a need for the council to step in and provide that when the private sector wouldn't. And obviously by doing that, we give the private sector confidence it can come in and invest in Bradford.'
Some locals still fear the venue will not be able to deliver good returns amid a cost of living crisis where concert and gig tickets are a luxury. The late opening will also prevent the venue from capitalising on Bradford's status as this year's UK city of culture.
Sign up to First Edition
Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters
after newsletter promotion
However, Darren Moore, the venue director at Bradford Live, is confident that the seats will be filled when the doors finally open.
'There's not another indoor venue of this size in West Yorkshire,' he said.
'There's a circuit of [similar mid-size venues] appearing. There's one opening in Derby, there's one in Hull, you've got one up at Stockton. So it's a developing market.'
For Sir Howard Panter, joint chief executive and co-founder of Trafalgar Entertainment, it is a project with something of a personal connection. He says he was brought up to believe the city was 'the centre of the universe' by his Bradfordian father.
Panter described the building as 'world-class' and said: 'The phone has been off the hook ever since it was announced that we were the operator.'
He added: 'I think it will unquestionably generate far more for the local economy than the local economy has invested in it,' citing research showing that a minimum of £1.40 is expected to be made for every £1 invested.
'So I think, over the years, Bradford will be a brighter and wealthier and happier place because of Bradford Live.'