Operator named for Bradford Live

Bradford Council has named Trafalgar Entertainment as the operator for the recently-restored music venue Bradford Live.

The company will take over the building in the autumn, after the NEC Group pulled out of planned arrangements last September.

Bradford Live, which cost £50m to restore after the project was initially costed at up to £25m, is located on the site of a former cinema. 

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said the 3,800-capacity venue will be “fully open in autumn this year, and playing a part in our UK City of Culture celebrations prior to that as promised”.

Trafalgar’s creative director Sir Howard Panter said the venue would “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”.