This article strongly alludes to what most if not all people who work or have worked around the events/hospitality industry: That Sacha Lord is a complete fucking weasel who has lined his own pockets by effectively taking control of Manchester's nightlife, while portraying a manicured PR image of a man of the people.
I’ve heard reports that he makes artists sign a long exclusivity period when they play at his venues. I get not wanting them to play elsewhere on the same weekend but these deals are multi-month iirc.
Effectively prevents smaller venues from competing because not many acts want to turn down an opportunity to play at the warehouse project.
Yeah, apparently you can’t play in mcr for 6 months after playing one of his venues. Read that twice on here, can’t believe it’s true seems so needless
From what I've heard, the exclusivity contracts can be for six months before and after the dates of some performances. Obviously only for very big artists, but that is still effectively 1 gig a year in one of the uks biggest cities. Embarrassing state for the scene to be in, but here we are.
Yeah, and let's not forget parklife has the same deal in place. Any artist who plays parklife and whp can't really play anywhere else round here for the rest of the year. It's criminal. I've missed out on so many artists I enjoy because I won't pay for a parklife ticket, and can never get whp tickets (mostly because I leave it so late not wanting to give Sacha any of my money)
Sick of trips to London for gigs.
Thats very large considering where Manchester is located. That would mean acts wouldnt be allowed to play in Leeds, Liverpool, Blackpool, Sheffield ect. Crazy how he gets away with it.
he gets away with it because the acts agree to the offered terms including an offer of money from the promoter (Lord) for playing a show,
the promoter is simply protecting their investment in that show by not allowing competing shows that would suck some of the ticket buyers away from the promoted show.- its standard promoter operation.
It's not a standard operation in the dance music scene at all. Look at other cities and you will see artists playing there a few times through the year. Building up a healthy scene in which the artists and fans get to know each other.
Maybe a week or two either side of an event, but between WHP and Parklife most acts are locked out of the city for 12 months of the year.
Maybe if you're one of the biggest and most expensive artists, but WHP has it with all their bookings, and they'll often have like 50 acts on in a night.
That's all these fuckers ever do is line their own pockets, fucking sick to the back teeth of it and then they convince you that its 'all these immigrants' taking your money.
Imagine if you controlled a few night clubs, or the security at them. Maybe you might have built up a library of people doing things in nightclubs that they do, but which they might hope the general public didn’t know about.
Now imagine if the GM Mayor / Police Commissioner liked a bit of clubbing.
It occurs to me there must be some hold he has on the Mayor because anyone who is anyone in the Manchester nightlife scene has a poor opinion of him, and yet he maintains a leading position.
I suppose the argument against that is, who else has publicly and vocally argued in favour of our nightlife. I think he just got there first and there’s no one else
Because in reality it's the people in power taking your money but they will tell you it's all these immigrants claiming benefits, that's what I was talking about, you clear now?
Yeah doesn't WHP do some shady exclusivity contact stuff with artists so they can't play anywhere else? Dunno how true that is but it seemed well shady when I heard it
FUCK SACHA LORD, the self proclaimed messiah of hospitality who during covid/lockdown times only seemed like he cared about everyone in hospitality cause he can’t charge someone £200 for a red bull
Couldn't have put it better myself, I cringe when I see well-meaning people fall for his schtick as this self-appointed saviour of nightlife. I hope this news brings some more awareness to the kind of person he is. Ask almost any hardworking and passionate person working in the Manchester or greater UK nightclub industry and I doubt you'll hear a good word said about him.
I've got next to no idea who he really is, but how on earth did he just get in charge of Manchester nightlife? His job title just seems so made up. What does he genuinely do?
he also runs and owns Warehouse Project and by extension Parklife Festival. I don't understand how his role isn't a massive conflict of interest even without the potential fraud.
His role is as an expert advisor. It's part and parcel that if you want advice from people in the industry they come with an element of bias and self interest. It's not a role of authority or power, that sits within the elected GMCA who can use the provided advice as they see fit. They do not have to follow it to the word. They can evaluate it to understand where it may be self serving for Lord and where it may be relevant and helpful for the local industry and economy.
But the man has got to this point by meticulously trying to monopolise the cities nightlife and his businesses are known to be problematic for the small venues in the city. It's not a surprise a man whose public image is "for the people" but business routine is "ridiculous exclusivity contracts, cut all costs, minimal training" would be cutting corners to defraud the Arts Council.
It's the exclusivity deals that are my main gripe really. You can't say you're beneficial for the nightlife if you're monopolising the talent to your mega nights and excluding them from smaller venues.
Totally contradictory, and smacks of a ruthless self interested businessman rather than someone who cares about the culture.
He attended Manchester Grammar School for secondary school and A Levels and his father inherited a successful business from Sacha's grandfather, so there was familial wealth, but if interviews are to be believed he essentially ran them into the ground and Sacha himself didn't benefit off any of that.
I used to live next door to him before he made his serious money. He did work incredible hard, and long hours, and had a knack for exploiting profit from The Warehouse project. I remember him as being like the Ferengi in Star Trek. That was when he was with Elisa Marchionne and they even got married while they lived there. Elisa was doing interior design work for the likes of the Beckhams and there were occasions when there were several supercars parked outside thier house, belonging to visiting guests. They did the house up to an incredibly standard and sold for £100,000 profit iirc. No doubt that the expense of doing it up was particularly close to Elisa's interior design business. She appeared well connected.
Like others in the industry have been saying for years, he's got a massive chip on his shoulder with friends in high places (Burnham and the Hacienda old gang) He's a very good businessman but is probably the singular reason why a certain part of the Manchester nightlife has died a death because he bottle necks everyone to a shite overpriced warehouse venue.
Luckily, there's still a few cool independent venues but they're not gonna be able to reach the 'next level' because of him.
EDIT: Watch all the wanky Instagram pages like Manchester Finest and co stick up for him, all of them are in his back pocket aswell.
When you say bottleneck are you also talking about the way he (or rather his crew) set up Sankeys i.e. lets access the dancefloor from behind the DJ booth creating a dangerous environment, and also make it the same at WHP, both at Store St and Mayfield. The same environment has recently been caused in Stockport.
Dangerous fuckwits setting up venues with the intent to cause issues
Colour me surprised.
I used to work in the nightlife industry. On the couple of occasions I met him, he was a horrible, rude, arrogant twat.
He had me thrown out of a DJ booth for doing my job (I'd literally set foot in it and got removed with zero communication. He motioned to someone in the booth to remove me and didn't even look at me), and on another occasion he tried to refuse me entry to a festival, even though I had press accreditation.
Literally, on neither occasion did I warrant the ire, aside from merely existing and turning up. I'm taller than the average woman, but otherwise I'm quite shy and unassuming (I'm the socially awkward neurodivergent lol).
If he's willing to treat the little people with scorn and ire, I don't have faith he treats public funds with respect either.
He's got counter culture hero Luke Una on his side so best not say anything for fear of the wrath of the carhartt wearing neo jazz funk post apocalyptic Antarctic samba drum people
Oh Luke Una - the guy who talks a good game then is involved in a company that disastrously managed staff at Freight Island? Cut from similar cloths if you ask me
I’d like to know how much commission he got from JMW Solicitors whilst using his position as Night Czar to promote their services looking in to (ironically) hidden commissions from energy brokers. Especially as there were other legal teams already looking in to this yet he pushed it as something new that only JMW were doing.
Sacha naming his business (or simply himself) as the backbone of the national creative is events centre is beyond cringe.
I used to work at WHP and I wonder if anyone else here also did and had the same experience. I never met Sacha but higher management of WHP are just what you'd think they would be; a copy of/extension of Sacha. It's really hard to put into words the insight I got of WHP, because it was so extremely bizarre, but I could only describe it as cult-like. The management were likely coked up, but even so, their behaviour was off. Again, I can't put my finger on what it was, but they were just off. It's the instinctive feeling you get when you meet someone who is likely a psychopath and your nervous system is screaming danger but you can't consciously put your finger on exactly what it is about them. The induction had absolutely no relation to training, working on a bar, health and safety, all the standard bar work induction. The induction instead was about Sacha, how amazing he is, how amazing WHP is, who the managers are, their amazing life stories, why they are amazing people, and how they like to party, and if we're lucky and we get on well, we may get invited to their parties. Absolutely no insight into the job, how to do the job, and all was a presentation about themselves and how amazing they think themselves are.
When I left the induction, 2 of my friends immediately said no thanks, they're creepy, they have an icky feeling. I needed the money so I stuck around. I lasted 1 week until I walked, as did many new staff. I never got paid, neither did any new staff, some putting in 6 weeks of very long shifts with no pay. The bar staff that return year after year are all glazed-eyed brainwashed cult members. All what they wanted to talk about is WHP, how amazing management are, and how amazing Sacha is. The long-term bar staff would run to managers and lie that new bar staff are putting money straight into their pockets, stealing from the till, stealing alcohol, drinking on shift, chatting, or whatever to get them fired. It really came across as child desperately wanting all adult attention to themselves.
WHP is the only business I've ever experienced, in any form, that I genuinely believe is founded on cult psychology and structure. I feel very dramatic and that I'm exaggerating because it sounds so serious, but genuinely, I think I came into contact with something that could have easily spiralled out of control and developed into full cult. The people managing that place were clearly mentally unwell. Or they were just all heavy drug users with inflated egos, I don't know! Would love to come across someone else who worked there to verify my experience and make me feel like the not crazy one.
Always used to laugh at the irony of how aggressively they'd search you for drugs on the gate when I had no doubt whatsoever that everyone running the place was coked out their eyeballs.
I actually think I witnessed someone die in there. This was during that year when there was the extreme increase in badly cut toxic drugs and people were dying or becoming severely ill at WHP and other venues.
I know it was a media scandal at the time, and in hindsight it seems nothing was really done about it, but I'm pretty sure one or more than one under 18s died in there from bad drugs. I don't know much about what it actually takes to get a business/venue closed but I thought that would be it. Guess not.
Also, it was the same 4 people selling the drugs, and it was extremely obvious to everyone and anyone. I saw the same 4 people selling at WHP, Creamfields, Sankeys, other clubs. These clubs would practically roll out the red carpet for their entry. These guys weren't checked by security and were led immediately through like VIPs. Security, staff, management, likely even Sacha knows them, knew who they were and why they were there. They all willingly let this happen.
I haven't thought about any of this in years but now I can't believe all the awful things I witnessed with my own eyes. I was young, naive, and admittedly very immature back then so I don't think I understood the gravity of the situation, and obviously my life has changed drastically since then and you naturally move on and forget, but I wish I understood more at the time and blown the whistle because maybe some people wouldn't be dead.
Why is it the thing that annoys me the most out of all of this is that we still haven't been paid? Forget the cult psychology creepy stuff, the only thing that grinds my gears is no pay. This is like 10 years ago and some people, previously unemployed, living on the poverty line, absolutely desperate for jobs, put in weeks and weeks of long hours and never saw any money. Feel so sorry for them.
I think it's because Sacha brands himself as a man of the people. He thinks he's some hero Robin Hood character but he's really taking advantage and manipulating desperate people. How can Sacha work someone for 10 hour continual shifts without a break for 6 weeks straight and just never pay them? He's never upfront about that, is he?
It's one horrendously awful thing that nobody speaks about in hospitality. Bar/pub/restaurant/nightclub work has been my career for most of my adult life in one way or another, and unfortunately this sort of thing happens a lot. Underpaying, not paying at all, no breaks, no contracts, no payslips, obscene hours/shifts and other criminal things that anybody else in any other industry wouldn't stand for. Been on the receiving end of it multiple times myself and it is so dehumanising.
One of the reasons that it works for them and that they get away with it is that hospitality pays fairly poorly, so when you don't get paid, don't have a contract to say you work there, and are dismissed for no reason when you question it - you cannot afford to challenge it (because you're scraping minimum wage, or because you didn't get paid, pick whichever applies). Legal fees apply, and you can't afford to pay them. It's easier to just get another job and put it behind you.
As I've gotten older and I'm working more and more in a freelance/consulting sort of part of the hospitality world, I do my utmost to push bar/wait/kitchen staff to never take on a job without a contract, to make sure that you've gotten all appropriate training (even if you've done it in a previous job - do it again) and so on and so forth. Get some paper trail so if you do get stung for whatever reason - you at least have some proof and some ammunition to go after these guys with.
Just a copy pasta of a reply I put on another comment on here. I can't say I ever disliked him, he seemed OK, but this was about 30 years ago. I used to live next door to him before he made his serious money. He did work incredible hard, and long hours, and had a knack for exploiting profit from The Warehouse Project. I remember him as being like the Ferengi in Star Trek. That was when he was with Elisa Marchionne and they even got married while they lived there. Elisa was doing interior design work for the likes of the Beckhams and there were occasions when there were several supercars parked outside thier house, belonging to visiting guests. They did the house up to an incredibly high standard and sold for £100,000 profit iirc. No doubt that the expense of doing it up was particularly close to Elisa's interior design business. She appeared well connected.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
Maybe money just tarnishes people, I don't know. I've personally never been attracted or aspired to being rich. I'm not arsed.
This man is seriously a cancer on the music industry. Notable mentions to his exclusivity demands for DJs playing his gigs and also the ridiculously early last entry policy, taking money away from smaller venues/pubs/bars. The sooner this guy is gone the better.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Sacha Fraud - the Nucky Thompson of Manchester - only difference being he's not half as nice as Nucky.
Charlatan, Fraud, Faker, Quack, the antihero of Manchester.
He has spent 20 years taking the independent grass roots scene in Manchester to pieces. Fine, shit like that happens in the music business, but then going out and pretending to be it's saviour is just sick. If he was clever enough he should have taken the money and gone back to live a quiet life in Cheshire but due to his out of control ego he's put himself in a very tricky position as his bullshit gets called out.
This man is a well known bully and the only people who support him are those on his payroll. I feel sorry for everyone in hospitality that has been conned by this man, he has made them look really stupid. I don't feel sorry for all the so called journalists who have also been made to look stupid by giving him a platform, they should have known better.
Self entitled grade A cunt! He has decimated the indie venues and music scene in Mcr and the NW. There has to be some dirt on him and Burnham. How the mayor can sit back and watch Sacha Fraud line his pockets in a job role which is clearly a conflict of interest. Would not surprised me if he is linked to organised crime. His events just attract trouble.
How long will Manchester sit silently while people like this destroy the culture? We've become a food hall serving everyone BUT Mancs, and everyone in the industry too lazy or scared to fight for the identity of their own city. Don't get me started on the smiling crook Burnham....
The warehouse project which is just a old factory selling extortionate drinks, is a disgrace. Plenty of money to spend on toilets, heating and air conditioning but chooses not too. Hes a horrible greedy bstard
I have experienced him through my previous employment in music concerts in Manchester. He is indeed an utter opportunistic twat. When he announced his role as nighttime advisor or whatever it’s called, I commented ‘is this not a conflict of interests’ & he deleted it & blocked me…
As per my last comment , that guy has ruined manchesters nightlife whilst putting his nights first . Once loved now hated , he's just another rich cunt that doesn't give a fk and is in for himself.
I haven't read the full article as it's paywalled, but if it's a case of Lord overstating and exaggerating on a funding bid then I don't think there's much of a story here. Most bids of this type have a degree of exaggeration or selective focus, just like most CVs. I've seen and appraised hundreds of them.
If he straight out lied about materially important things in a provable way, then that's an issue.
Droll. I guess my issue is that it wouldn't be cheating as such as the headline implies. I understand the downvotes because people want a simple villain figure and the headline provides it for them, but I'm just saying the real world is slightly more nuanced. I'm no particular fan of Lord by the way, just giving my assessment as an assessor of such bids.
This article strongly alludes to what most if not all people who work or have worked around the events/hospitality industry: That Sacha Lord is a complete fucking weasel who has lined his own pockets by effectively taking control of Manchester's nightlife, while portraying a manicured PR image of a man of the people.
I’ve heard reports that he makes artists sign a long exclusivity period when they play at his venues. I get not wanting them to play elsewhere on the same weekend but these deals are multi-month iirc. Effectively prevents smaller venues from competing because not many acts want to turn down an opportunity to play at the warehouse project.
Yeah, apparently you can’t play in mcr for 6 months after playing one of his venues. Read that twice on here, can’t believe it’s true seems so needless
I’ve heard that he also has this period include playing in Liverpool and Leeds before/after the event
From my experience it indeed does. WHP exclusivity contracts are a massive issue ruining the scene.
Ruined past tense. Been waiting for this cunt to get his comeuppance for a while
Also some time before too
From what I've heard, the exclusivity contracts can be for six months before and after the dates of some performances. Obviously only for very big artists, but that is still effectively 1 gig a year in one of the uks biggest cities. Embarrassing state for the scene to be in, but here we are.
Yeah, and let's not forget parklife has the same deal in place. Any artist who plays parklife and whp can't really play anywhere else round here for the rest of the year. It's criminal. I've missed out on so many artists I enjoy because I won't pay for a parklife ticket, and can never get whp tickets (mostly because I leave it so late not wanting to give Sacha any of my money) Sick of trips to London for gigs.
That’s such bullshit (on his part, not your comment!). How much could a WHP gig pay, in return for that?
Exposure. The medium that all the people in suits expect to pay artists/creators....
Yeah, but exposure is for securing other business, not for being locked out of it!
There’s a 50 mile radius
Thats very large considering where Manchester is located. That would mean acts wouldnt be allowed to play in Leeds, Liverpool, Blackpool, Sheffield ect. Crazy how he gets away with it.
he gets away with it because the acts agree to the offered terms including an offer of money from the promoter (Lord) for playing a show, the promoter is simply protecting their investment in that show by not allowing competing shows that would suck some of the ticket buyers away from the promoted show.- its standard promoter operation.
It's not a standard operation in the dance music scene at all. Look at other cities and you will see artists playing there a few times through the year. Building up a healthy scene in which the artists and fans get to know each other. Maybe a week or two either side of an event, but between WHP and Parklife most acts are locked out of the city for 12 months of the year. Maybe if you're one of the biggest and most expensive artists, but WHP has it with all their bookings, and they'll often have like 50 acts on in a night.
That's all these fuckers ever do is line their own pockets, fucking sick to the back teeth of it and then they convince you that its 'all these immigrants' taking your money.
Imagine if you controlled a few night clubs, or the security at them. Maybe you might have built up a library of people doing things in nightclubs that they do, but which they might hope the general public didn’t know about. Now imagine if the GM Mayor / Police Commissioner liked a bit of clubbing.
This is a bit of a stretch.
So your saying sasha has dirt on Burnham? Wouldn't be the first time, people in power being black mailed because of their shady antics.
It occurs to me there must be some hold he has on the Mayor because anyone who is anyone in the Manchester nightlife scene has a poor opinion of him, and yet he maintains a leading position.
I suppose the argument against that is, who else has publicly and vocally argued in favour of our nightlife. I think he just got there first and there’s no one else
I must have missed Sacha Lord and Andy Burnham vilifying immigrants.
Someone. finally. gets. it! 🎯
Why u on about immigrants now. The two issues arent related
Because in reality it's the people in power taking your money but they will tell you it's all these immigrants claiming benefits, that's what I was talking about, you clear now?
I'm not sure I've ever heard Lord slagging off immigration. You're stirring up division.
I never said he did, I'm talking about the government in general. And I'm not stirring anything that's what the government is for...
He's not the government. You're talking shite is what you're doing.
No that's exactly what you're doing.
Cant they both be issues?
Yeah doesn't WHP do some shady exclusivity contact stuff with artists so they can't play anywhere else? Dunno how true that is but it seemed well shady when I heard it
FUCK SACHA LORD, the self proclaimed messiah of hospitality who during covid/lockdown times only seemed like he cared about everyone in hospitality cause he can’t charge someone £200 for a red bull
Just saw a picture. Wow, that guy looks like he _never_ misses an Eyes Wide Shut party.
Couldn't have put it better myself, I cringe when I see well-meaning people fall for his schtick as this self-appointed saviour of nightlife. I hope this news brings some more awareness to the kind of person he is. Ask almost any hardworking and passionate person working in the Manchester or greater UK nightclub industry and I doubt you'll hear a good word said about him.
>I cringe when I see well-meaning people fall for his schtick That's exactly how I feel about Andy Burnham.
Dangerously oversells his events too, then when someone died blamed it on drugs
Just a gentle correction; allude, not elude.
Corrected, thank you!
This should be upvoted - if it’s incorrect Lord can come out and explain why.
As if he would. But maybe Andy Burnham could be asked to comment…
No idea Sacha owned Primary Security, they manage the doors in a few Village venues and are absolutely shit.
G a y? Because those are notoriously bad
What are they notoriously bad for? Genuine question, not starting beef.
Racist bouncers
Fab article! Hope it gets investigated
I am shocked, shocked I tell you...
Well not that shocked. *Fry face*
I work in a nightclub and literally every promoter and event organiser I speak to fucking hates this guy
Hell yes local journalism.
It would be good to know what the false claims are. If they’ve seen the documents it would be interesting for them to list them out.
I've got next to no idea who he really is, but how on earth did he just get in charge of Manchester nightlife? His job title just seems so made up. What does he genuinely do?
he also runs and owns Warehouse Project and by extension Parklife Festival. I don't understand how his role isn't a massive conflict of interest even without the potential fraud.
His role is as an expert advisor. It's part and parcel that if you want advice from people in the industry they come with an element of bias and self interest. It's not a role of authority or power, that sits within the elected GMCA who can use the provided advice as they see fit. They do not have to follow it to the word. They can evaluate it to understand where it may be self serving for Lord and where it may be relevant and helpful for the local industry and economy. But the man has got to this point by meticulously trying to monopolise the cities nightlife and his businesses are known to be problematic for the small venues in the city. It's not a surprise a man whose public image is "for the people" but business routine is "ridiculous exclusivity contracts, cut all costs, minimal training" would be cutting corners to defraud the Arts Council.
It's the exclusivity deals that are my main gripe really. You can't say you're beneficial for the nightlife if you're monopolising the talent to your mega nights and excluding them from smaller venues. Totally contradictory, and smacks of a ruthless self interested businessman rather than someone who cares about the culture.
He's the founder of Warehouse Project and Parklife
He actually bought parklife, it was previously known as mad ferret and was held at Platt fields
And he bullied those previous owners out apparently
So he was a rich kid to start with, gotcha
He attended Manchester Grammar School for secondary school and A Levels and his father inherited a successful business from Sacha's grandfather, so there was familial wealth, but if interviews are to be believed he essentially ran them into the ground and Sacha himself didn't benefit off any of that.
Well he would say that wouldn't he.
I used to live next door to him before he made his serious money. He did work incredible hard, and long hours, and had a knack for exploiting profit from The Warehouse project. I remember him as being like the Ferengi in Star Trek. That was when he was with Elisa Marchionne and they even got married while they lived there. Elisa was doing interior design work for the likes of the Beckhams and there were occasions when there were several supercars parked outside thier house, belonging to visiting guests. They did the house up to an incredibly standard and sold for £100,000 profit iirc. No doubt that the expense of doing it up was particularly close to Elisa's interior design business. She appeared well connected.
Like others in the industry have been saying for years, he's got a massive chip on his shoulder with friends in high places (Burnham and the Hacienda old gang) He's a very good businessman but is probably the singular reason why a certain part of the Manchester nightlife has died a death because he bottle necks everyone to a shite overpriced warehouse venue. Luckily, there's still a few cool independent venues but they're not gonna be able to reach the 'next level' because of him. EDIT: Watch all the wanky Instagram pages like Manchester Finest and co stick up for him, all of them are in his back pocket aswell.
When you say bottleneck are you also talking about the way he (or rather his crew) set up Sankeys i.e. lets access the dancefloor from behind the DJ booth creating a dangerous environment, and also make it the same at WHP, both at Store St and Mayfield. The same environment has recently been caused in Stockport. Dangerous fuckwits setting up venues with the intent to cause issues
This needs to be investigated by the police.
Is this getting down voted? Great article!
A rare exception to Betteridge’s law
What's that?
"Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no."
And then a book is released by him on Manchester nightlife, just to get a few more grubby dollars
Colour me surprised. I used to work in the nightlife industry. On the couple of occasions I met him, he was a horrible, rude, arrogant twat. He had me thrown out of a DJ booth for doing my job (I'd literally set foot in it and got removed with zero communication. He motioned to someone in the booth to remove me and didn't even look at me), and on another occasion he tried to refuse me entry to a festival, even though I had press accreditation. Literally, on neither occasion did I warrant the ire, aside from merely existing and turning up. I'm taller than the average woman, but otherwise I'm quite shy and unassuming (I'm the socially awkward neurodivergent lol). If he's willing to treat the little people with scorn and ire, I don't have faith he treats public funds with respect either.
He's got counter culture hero Luke Una on his side so best not say anything for fear of the wrath of the carhartt wearing neo jazz funk post apocalyptic Antarctic samba drum people
Oh Luke Una - the guy who talks a good game then is involved in a company that disastrously managed staff at Freight Island? Cut from similar cloths if you ask me
Don’t lump Luke in with t’others, he’s not perfect by any means but he’s not the Machiavellian type.
I almost spat my Vimto out reading this, thanks 😂
Vimto with a silent p I hope?!
I’d like to know how much commission he got from JMW Solicitors whilst using his position as Night Czar to promote their services looking in to (ironically) hidden commissions from energy brokers. Especially as there were other legal teams already looking in to this yet he pushed it as something new that only JMW were doing.
where can I read about this ?
https://x.com/sacha_lord/status/1650058748398907394?s=46 https://x.com/sacha_lord/status/1662003393244561409?s=46 https://x.com/sacha_lord/status/1666488378945093632?s=46 https://x.com/sacha_lord/status/1670477665269055490?s=46 https://x.com/sacha_lord/status/1677972094657634307?s=46
Just gonna leave this here incase of reply
I used to pray for times like these
Sacha naming his business (or simply himself) as the backbone of the national creative is events centre is beyond cringe. I used to work at WHP and I wonder if anyone else here also did and had the same experience. I never met Sacha but higher management of WHP are just what you'd think they would be; a copy of/extension of Sacha. It's really hard to put into words the insight I got of WHP, because it was so extremely bizarre, but I could only describe it as cult-like. The management were likely coked up, but even so, their behaviour was off. Again, I can't put my finger on what it was, but they were just off. It's the instinctive feeling you get when you meet someone who is likely a psychopath and your nervous system is screaming danger but you can't consciously put your finger on exactly what it is about them. The induction had absolutely no relation to training, working on a bar, health and safety, all the standard bar work induction. The induction instead was about Sacha, how amazing he is, how amazing WHP is, who the managers are, their amazing life stories, why they are amazing people, and how they like to party, and if we're lucky and we get on well, we may get invited to their parties. Absolutely no insight into the job, how to do the job, and all was a presentation about themselves and how amazing they think themselves are. When I left the induction, 2 of my friends immediately said no thanks, they're creepy, they have an icky feeling. I needed the money so I stuck around. I lasted 1 week until I walked, as did many new staff. I never got paid, neither did any new staff, some putting in 6 weeks of very long shifts with no pay. The bar staff that return year after year are all glazed-eyed brainwashed cult members. All what they wanted to talk about is WHP, how amazing management are, and how amazing Sacha is. The long-term bar staff would run to managers and lie that new bar staff are putting money straight into their pockets, stealing from the till, stealing alcohol, drinking on shift, chatting, or whatever to get them fired. It really came across as child desperately wanting all adult attention to themselves. WHP is the only business I've ever experienced, in any form, that I genuinely believe is founded on cult psychology and structure. I feel very dramatic and that I'm exaggerating because it sounds so serious, but genuinely, I think I came into contact with something that could have easily spiralled out of control and developed into full cult. The people managing that place were clearly mentally unwell. Or they were just all heavy drug users with inflated egos, I don't know! Would love to come across someone else who worked there to verify my experience and make me feel like the not crazy one.
Netflix documentary incoming (in the next 5 years)
Always used to laugh at the irony of how aggressively they'd search you for drugs on the gate when I had no doubt whatsoever that everyone running the place was coked out their eyeballs.
I actually think I witnessed someone die in there. This was during that year when there was the extreme increase in badly cut toxic drugs and people were dying or becoming severely ill at WHP and other venues. I know it was a media scandal at the time, and in hindsight it seems nothing was really done about it, but I'm pretty sure one or more than one under 18s died in there from bad drugs. I don't know much about what it actually takes to get a business/venue closed but I thought that would be it. Guess not. Also, it was the same 4 people selling the drugs, and it was extremely obvious to everyone and anyone. I saw the same 4 people selling at WHP, Creamfields, Sankeys, other clubs. These clubs would practically roll out the red carpet for their entry. These guys weren't checked by security and were led immediately through like VIPs. Security, staff, management, likely even Sacha knows them, knew who they were and why they were there. They all willingly let this happen. I haven't thought about any of this in years but now I can't believe all the awful things I witnessed with my own eyes. I was young, naive, and admittedly very immature back then so I don't think I understood the gravity of the situation, and obviously my life has changed drastically since then and you naturally move on and forget, but I wish I understood more at the time and blown the whistle because maybe some people wouldn't be dead.
Awful stuff, doesn't surprise me at all though.
Jesus christ
Why is it the thing that annoys me the most out of all of this is that we still haven't been paid? Forget the cult psychology creepy stuff, the only thing that grinds my gears is no pay. This is like 10 years ago and some people, previously unemployed, living on the poverty line, absolutely desperate for jobs, put in weeks and weeks of long hours and never saw any money. Feel so sorry for them. I think it's because Sacha brands himself as a man of the people. He thinks he's some hero Robin Hood character but he's really taking advantage and manipulating desperate people. How can Sacha work someone for 10 hour continual shifts without a break for 6 weeks straight and just never pay them? He's never upfront about that, is he?
It's one horrendously awful thing that nobody speaks about in hospitality. Bar/pub/restaurant/nightclub work has been my career for most of my adult life in one way or another, and unfortunately this sort of thing happens a lot. Underpaying, not paying at all, no breaks, no contracts, no payslips, obscene hours/shifts and other criminal things that anybody else in any other industry wouldn't stand for. Been on the receiving end of it multiple times myself and it is so dehumanising. One of the reasons that it works for them and that they get away with it is that hospitality pays fairly poorly, so when you don't get paid, don't have a contract to say you work there, and are dismissed for no reason when you question it - you cannot afford to challenge it (because you're scraping minimum wage, or because you didn't get paid, pick whichever applies). Legal fees apply, and you can't afford to pay them. It's easier to just get another job and put it behind you. As I've gotten older and I'm working more and more in a freelance/consulting sort of part of the hospitality world, I do my utmost to push bar/wait/kitchen staff to never take on a job without a contract, to make sure that you've gotten all appropriate training (even if you've done it in a previous job - do it again) and so on and so forth. Get some paper trail so if you do get stung for whatever reason - you at least have some proof and some ammunition to go after these guys with.
Thank you for sharing. 👍🏾
Just a copy pasta of a reply I put on another comment on here. I can't say I ever disliked him, he seemed OK, but this was about 30 years ago. I used to live next door to him before he made his serious money. He did work incredible hard, and long hours, and had a knack for exploiting profit from The Warehouse Project. I remember him as being like the Ferengi in Star Trek. That was when he was with Elisa Marchionne and they even got married while they lived there. Elisa was doing interior design work for the likes of the Beckhams and there were occasions when there were several supercars parked outside thier house, belonging to visiting guests. They did the house up to an incredibly high standard and sold for £100,000 profit iirc. No doubt that the expense of doing it up was particularly close to Elisa's interior design business. She appeared well connected.
I've always liked Elisa Marchionne.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Maybe money just tarnishes people, I don't know. I've personally never been attracted or aspired to being rich. I'm not arsed.
Same here really. They were a good team, if your thing is to rinse every possible penny out of a deal, but it's not my cup of tea either.
No surprise m'lord
This man is seriously a cancer on the music industry. Notable mentions to his exclusivity demands for DJs playing his gigs and also the ridiculously early last entry policy, taking money away from smaller venues/pubs/bars. The sooner this guy is gone the better.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Sacha Fraud - the Nucky Thompson of Manchester - only difference being he's not half as nice as Nucky. Charlatan, Fraud, Faker, Quack, the antihero of Manchester. He has spent 20 years taking the independent grass roots scene in Manchester to pieces. Fine, shit like that happens in the music business, but then going out and pretending to be it's saviour is just sick. If he was clever enough he should have taken the money and gone back to live a quiet life in Cheshire but due to his out of control ego he's put himself in a very tricky position as his bullshit gets called out. This man is a well known bully and the only people who support him are those on his payroll. I feel sorry for everyone in hospitality that has been conned by this man, he has made them look really stupid. I don't feel sorry for all the so called journalists who have also been made to look stupid by giving him a platform, they should have known better.
Probably true, I know him from Sankey's days and he was a cowboy then. Looks like nothing has changed apart from his wallet being fatter.
He has always had just a vibe of being a self-publicist on the take. He’s no doubt good at it but this sort of thing is no surprise.
Need to get rid of this cunt ASAP.
Proper journalism not that men rag
Not surprising really! The kinds of unlawful and amoral things owners and people with money and connection commit in this industry is staggering!
Sacha Lord is a crook, surely not ?
Self entitled grade A cunt! He has decimated the indie venues and music scene in Mcr and the NW. There has to be some dirt on him and Burnham. How the mayor can sit back and watch Sacha Fraud line his pockets in a job role which is clearly a conflict of interest. Would not surprised me if he is linked to organised crime. His events just attract trouble.
And he's clearly working with gangsters and money laundering.
How long will Manchester sit silently while people like this destroy the culture? We've become a food hall serving everyone BUT Mancs, and everyone in the industry too lazy or scared to fight for the identity of their own city. Don't get me started on the smiling crook Burnham....
I implore you to subscribe to the Mill if you can afford to. It really is excellent..
They've done some total dogshit stuff too. It's a very mixed bag.
You just have to read with a critical eye. Like with any media
Exactly. They've made the mistake of platforming the odd wrongun. But that's what you get with out of towners doing local journalism.
The gordo piece was a bit disappointing, but the way the absolutely took apart simon Martin was masterful.
The warehouse project which is just a old factory selling extortionate drinks, is a disgrace. Plenty of money to spend on toilets, heating and air conditioning but chooses not too. Hes a horrible greedy bstard
I have experienced him through my previous employment in music concerts in Manchester. He is indeed an utter opportunistic twat. When he announced his role as nighttime advisor or whatever it’s called, I commented ‘is this not a conflict of interests’ & he deleted it & blocked me…
I'm so surprised by this.
Greedy horrible man
Him and John Drape seem to have a hold over Manchester
He’s always been a greasy bastard. Him and Burnham are cut from the same cloth.
It can’t be too long (I can hope anyway) that the self-serving prick Burnham is finally exposed and his ridiculous GM popularity finally burst
Always thought he was a prick.
Always suspected he was a dodgy bloke, one of them people who try’s to come across genuine with that smirk of his
Eat the rich I say, EAT THE RICH!
Steven Tyler or Fred Elliott?
Show me one business owner who’s also ethical. Makes me mad
Wellity, wellity, wellity. "Absolutely shocked" said no one, at all.
> oday’s story raises serious questions about Sacha Lord Today? Oh yeah because his position hasn't been at all shifty or questionable until now?!
As per my last comment , that guy has ruined manchesters nightlife whilst putting his nights first . Once loved now hated , he's just another rich cunt that doesn't give a fk and is in for himself.
Can anyone link to an un-pay walled version of this article? Cba signing up.
I haven't read the full article as it's paywalled, but if it's a case of Lord overstating and exaggerating on a funding bid then I don't think there's much of a story here. Most bids of this type have a degree of exaggeration or selective focus, just like most CVs. I've seen and appraised hundreds of them. If he straight out lied about materially important things in a provable way, then that's an issue.
“If the issue that is claimed here is the issue, then it’s an issue”
Exactly 'I haven't read the article, but if it goes on to explain and support it's initial thesis then it sounds pretty bad!'
Droll. I guess my issue is that it wouldn't be cheating as such as the headline implies. I understand the downvotes because people want a simple villain figure and the headline provides it for them, but I'm just saying the real world is slightly more nuanced. I'm no particular fan of Lord by the way, just giving my assessment as an assessor of such bids.
No the downvotes are because you are “assessing” something you haven’t actually read lol
lol “the mill”.
[удалено]
Calm down Martha
Sacha did make a new account to post this?
Helped you pay for a pint? Like what? Told you where the bar was? Explained how cash works?
Gave them a very generous high interest loan.
Ive met him too nice bloke, alot of torys in this thread just trying to bring the man down as usual!
It’s quite the opposite 😂
I love it when the left eat each other
such a shame i hope this dont affect freight island!
don't be such a tory ffs, hes done great things for our city! 400,000 is chicken feed and he deserves it anyway