
Sacha Lord, Parklife and Warehouse Project founder and Greater Manchester’s Night-Time Economy Adviser, has stepped down from the role.
His resignation follows an investigation by local news outlet, The Mill, in May 2024 that questioned whether Primary Event Solutions, an event promoter of which Mr Lord is a director and holds a 30% stake, was eligible to receive a Culture Recovery Fund grant of over £400,000. The outlet’s piece prompted the Arts Council, which administered the grant scheme aimed at supporting the industry to recover after Covid-19 lockdowns, into reopening an investigation into the funding award.
Following an eight-month investment, the Arts Council has now withdrawn the grant and has called for money to be returned. Primary Event Solutions was wound up in September 2023, and the Arts Council has contacted liquidators to be added as among the firm’s creditors.
The Arts Council had previously received an allegation of fraud relating to Primary Event Solutions’ grant in December 2022 and told the Manchester Evening News at the time that its investigation found no misuse of public money.
Sacha Lord (pictured right alongside Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham) denies Primary Event Solutions made any deliberate attempts to mislead the Arts Council in seeking the Culture Recovery Fund grant. In a statement announcing his resignation as Night Time Economy Advisor, he said:
““[G]iven the company’s current status in liquidation, and recognising that there are a small number of unintended oversights which have impacted the application’s clarity under the criteria, we accept that the grant status has been updated.“
Commenting on his achievements advising Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, Mr Lord said:
“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a city-region – earning recognition as the ‘night-time capital of the UK’, ranking eighth in the World’s Best Cities for Nightlife, surpassing global destinations like Budapest and Buenos Aires, and successfully introducing initiatives which will transform our nightlife for the better, such as 24-hour night buses.
“However, the emotional toll and experience over recent months has given me the opportunity to reflect and gradually step back from my role in Greater Manchester. With heartfelt thanks to the Mayor and his team, I have decided to continue in this direction and embrace a new chapter ahead – championing the sector on a national level with fresh focus and energy.”
Commenting on Sacha Lord’s resignation, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said:
“Over the past seven years, as our Night-Time Economy Advisor, Sacha has been a brilliant and vocal champion for Greater Manchester’s night-time economy and cultural sectors during one of the industry’s most difficult periods in living memory.
“He has put a huge amount of time and energy into his work as Mayoral Advisor, supporting our councils and many local businesses. He has done all of this completely free and out of his own pocket, never taking or receiving any payment for this work.
“Sacha has accepted there were inaccuracies in a grant application, and I believe him when he says there was no intention to mislead and that he made no personal gain from the grant.“
Following Sacha Lord’s public statement regarding the investigation into Primary Event Solutions’ Culture Recovery Fund grant, the Arts Council clarified to the Manchester Evening News that the application had breached the grant’s terms and conditions which stated: “8.3.8 You have supplied us with any information that is wrong or misleading, either by mistake or because you were trying to mislead us.” The organisation also confirmed it was beyond the scope of its investigation to determine whether incorrect information had been supplied accidentally or on purpose.