Manchester Pride has begun voluntary liquidation, days after the Charity Commission said it was “assessing concerns” over the charity’s finances.
The news, announced in a statement on 22 October, comes after some artists and businesses reported having not been paid, with requests for payment being met with silence.
Organisers of Manchester Pride cited rising costs, declining ticket sales and an unsuccessful bid to host EuroPride as factors that had led to “the organisation no longer being financially viable”.
The charity’s statement said its trustees were “devastated” by the situation and that its entire staff team would be made redundant.
“We, along with the team, have put our hearts and souls into celebration and community activities over two decades and are very distressed at the position in which we find ourselves,” it said.
Manchester Pride also apologised to artists, contractors and other partners who “will now financially lose out”.
Union ‘pursuing all options to recoup money’
Performers impacted have been urged to get in contact with Equity, the performing arts and entertainment trade union.
“We are collecting contractual information to pursue all options to recoup money owed, and we will begin these processes immediately,” Equity’s North West official Karen Lockney said after the liquidation was announced.
One of those impacted by the liquidation is RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Saki Yew, who prior to this week’s announcement told BBC Newsbeat the situation had “gone too far” and that “a lot of performers are starting to give up hope of being paid”.
Saki was booked as part of a collective which is owed a “big sum of money” that “put in the hard work with weeks and weeks of rehearsals”.
Chris O’Connor, a sole trader at the event, is taking organisers to a small claims court over £2,050 he is owed, according to Newsbeat.
Manchester Pride’s board of trustees said in its statement that details of parties owed money have been passed to the liquidators.
Data for the 2023 financial year shows the charity had a total income of £2.7m and total expenditure of £3.1m, with a note in the accounts saying a review of strategy would be undertaken in 2024 to “safeguard the sustainability of Manchester Pride’s financial model”.
In recent days, the Charity Commission said it had opened a compliance case after Manchester Pride had submitted a serious incident report relating to the charity’s finances, and that it was engaging with trustees, but that it had not commenced a statutory inquiry.
‘Ensuring Manchester gets the Pride it deserves’
In its statement, trade union Equity said representatives were “speaking with Manchester City Council and other stakeholders to ensure artists' voices are heard in discussions about the future of Pride in the city, ensuring that Manchester gets the Pride it deserves: one that is rooted in the local community and the Gay Village, and which has workers' rights embedded from the outset.”
Manchester City Council has confirmed a Pride celebration will take place in the city in August 2026 with the support of the council.
Council leader Bev Craig said: “Pride is much more than the organisation that runs it. We want to support a new chapter for Manchester Pride weekend, which will take place next August.
"The council will play a full and active role in bringing together the LGBTQ community to help shape how the city moves forward to ensure a bright and thriving future for Manchester Pride."
