Council seeks new operator for £50m music venue

An opening date for Bradford Live is still unknown

Bradford Council is seeking a new operator to run a £50m live entertainment venue, after the group tasked with running the site confirmed it would leave the project.

In a joint statement with the NEC Group, the Labour-run authority said the process to find a new operator for Bradford Live had begun "at pace".

It said a new date for the reopening of the former Odeon cinema would be announced when a new operator was confirmed.

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “Advice from the sector leads us to believe that there are a number of potential operators who have shown initial interest in the venue."

The 3,800-seat venue, a key part of Bradford's plans for its City of Culture year in 2025, had been due to open in November.

Both the council and NEC had repeatedly refused to provide details on the venue's future in recent months.

The refurbishment reached its final stages in July, albeit more than 100% over budget.

Initially forecast to cost between £22m and £25m, the venue has been funded by almost £44m from Bradford Council, with the rest coming from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), the government and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Rebecca Poulsen, leader of Bradford Conservatives, the largest opposition group on the council, said "very little" further detail had been provided "to either the general public or councillors who are supposed to be able to scrutinise decisions of the council".

"More and more council decisions are being made behind closed doors with the majority of councillors not being given information to allow them to carefully look at decisions," she added.

"We have no idea what terms have been agreed over this decision."

Brendan Stubbs, leader of the Lib Dems on Bradford Council and a vocal critic of the authority's lack of updates on the project, called for a "proper audit of what's gone on".

"We need to make sure the public in Bradford aren't paying millions more to get Bradford Live up and running," he said.

"If the NEC are walking away from a contract with us, we would expect them to compensate us so we are not losing out".

Hinchcliffe said it had been "very frustrating that we have had to remain so tight-lipped, but at all times we have followed expert legal advice to protect the interests of the venue and the council."

The venue has been awaiting a final fit-out since July

The council said the NEC Group had decided "the venue will be better served by an alternative operator".

A spokesperson said: "Following a strategic review of its business, the NEC Group will focus on its existing operations in the Birmingham area."

The group would "step away from Bradford Live with immediate effect" after a settlement with the council was agreed to release it from its contract, they added.

Hinchcliffe said the council was now in a position to be able to have further discussions with organisations interested in running Bradford Live, adding: "We can’t say more about this at this stage given the commercially sensitive nature of discussions.

“We are aiming to have the venue operational in 2025 to host events as part of Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture."

Despite his criticism of the council's handling of Bradford Live, Stubbs said the city could support a venue of its size if managed correctly, adding: "We are talking about a city of 350-400,000 people.

"If you can't have a live music venue that will serve a city of that size, where else can you have them?"

Bradford Chamber of Commerce president Mark Cowgill said it remained "confident that Bradford Live will be an absolute game changer for the city and for the north of England, and will prove to be a huge success in the years to come.”

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