Night Time Economy Advisor steps away from key roles at heart of Manchester nightlife
Sacha Lord, founder of Warehouse Project, Parklife, and more recently Mayor Andy Burnham's Night Time Economy Advisor, has stepped down from his positions at the heart of both juggernaut music events following the sale of his remaining shares.
A prominent, and some have argued increasingly dominant, feature of Manchester's nightlife since launching Warehouse Project in 2006 and Parklife in 2010, the promoter went on to be named Andy Burnham's 'Night Time Economy Advisor' in 2018.
Overseeing the rise of Warehouse Project and the growth of Parklife from 20,000 Platt Fields Park attendees in 2010 to four times that number at Heaton Park last year, Lord sold shares in both to global entertainment firm Live Nation Gaiety in 2021, with the firm now having bought the remainder.
In a statement published on LinkedIn, Lord said: "Today, I will be exiting my role at Parklife and The Warehouse Project.
"In 2021 the deal was agreed and in my book, released in April, I mentioned I would be stepping back and today, following a transfer of shares, is the day that happens.
"This wasn’t an easy decision to make. Parklife and The Warehouse Project have been my whole life for the past two decades.
"But this will allow me to focus more on my roles as the Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, Chair of the Night Time Industries Association and work alongside my beautiful wife Demi, on the Sacha Lord Foundation. As well as preparing for my most important new role of being a father.
"To everyone over the years who has worked at Parklife or The Warehouse Project thank you. I will miss you all. To the millions of people who have stepped foot in Parklife or The Warehouse Project, thank you. Without you all, they wouldn’t have been so great. Now, onto the next chapter."
This news follows both the April publication of his memoir Tales from the Dancefloor and a recent and well-publicised wrangle, including the threat of legal action, with local newspaper The Mill back in May, which published allegations that Lord's Primary Event Solutions Limited had misrepresented itself to the Arts Council in a bid to receive £400,000 of grant money from a pandemic support scheme.
Lord strongly refuted any accusation of wrongdoing. He later withdrew his threat of legal action, stating that "I have decided not to pursue legal action for the time being, but will review this position on an ongoing basis."
Header image used with kind permission of David Oldham Photography / @davidoldhamphoto
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