Trafalgar Entertainment boosts growing venue arm with Bradford Live contract

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Bradford Live will open this year.

Trafalgar Entertainment has boosted its growing venue portfolio after winning the bid to become the new operator of music and comedy venue Bradford Live.

Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire’s rapidly expanding company is promising to programme the best in live music, comedy and other live entertainment at the 3,000-seat venue, which also has a 3,500-standing capacity.

It adds to Trafalgar’s portfolio of 21 venues, which also includes the Trafalgar Theatre in the West End and Olympia Theatre in London, the Theatre Royal Sydney in Australia, Southend Cliffs Pavilion, Glasgow’s Pavilion, the G Live in Guildford, Cardiff’s New Theatre and Fareham Live.

Trafalgar Entertainment secured the contract following a “competitive tender process” overseen by Bradford Council, which owns the venue.

Trafalgar Entertainment will now begin the final fit-out of Bradford Live and is expected to open the venue in the autumn of this year.

The company has also been in discussion with Bradford Culture Company to see how it can play a role in Bradford’s UK City of Culture programme this year.
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Panter, joint chief executive and creative director at Trafalgar Entertainment, said the “glorious landmark venue” had been turned into a “modern and truly world-class destination”.

“Bradford is already a thriving, cultural destination, but as the UK’s City of Culture for 2025, Bradford has an even greater future ahead, and we’re excited to be a part of that journey with Bradford Live.

“Our immediate priorities include supporting and promoting Bradford as the UK City of Culture 2025 – and engaging with the Bradford 2025 team to deliver an exemplary programme of events during what is a milestone year for the city,” he said.

He added: “The sheer scope and scale of Bradford Live gives us a fantastic opportunity to bring the best premium programming, enabling us to host a huge range of shows from the biggest live-music events and comedy to large-scale entertainment of all kinds and from some of the world’s biggest stars.”

The former Odeon cinema was originally built in 1930s. Following a period of dereliction when the building was out of use, it was saved from demolition and been fully restored with a £50 million investment, bringing it back to its former glory as a live music venue and entertainment hub for the city.

In its heyday, Bradford Live hosted large live music acts such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Tom Jones and Roy Orbison.

Helen Enright, chief executive of theatres and venues, said: “We passionately believe that audiences deserve the very best and we’re committed to making all our venues welcoming, accessible and central to the communities they serve. Our vision for Bradford Live is for the venue to be a hub for live touring artists, comedians, and bands, creating lifelong memorable moments for local fans. Our programming team will call upon their relationships with some of the UK’s biggest promoters, and their expertise in programming a broad range of shows, to make Bradford Live the ‘go to’ destination in the region.”

She added: “We also plan to use the venue’s secondary spaces – which are extraordinary – to host events, activities, conferences, weddings and parties, complemented by our first-class, event-planning, dining and hospitality services.”

Dan Bates, executive director of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, praised Trafalgar’s “expertise and track record in delivering world-class entertainment”, which he said made it “the ideal organisation to help shape the future of this iconic venue”.