Withdrawal fee for Bradford Live contract revealed
An Information Commissioner’s Office ruling has revealed that NEC Group paid the local authority close to £5.4m to pull out of its agreement to occupy and run the much-delayed venue.
The ICO ruled earlier this week that Bradford Council should disclose the settlement amount the NEC Group paid.
Until now the figure of £5,371,000 had been withheld as prejudicial to commercial interests and subject to confidentiality requirements under the terms of the settlement.
The monies received from the settlement have now been deposited in Bradford Council’s bank account, which has consequently reduced the cash-strapped local authority’s borrowing requirement.
Bradford Live, a redevelopment of the former Odeon – long floated as a cornerstone regeneration project for the city in one form or another – was originally supposed to cost around £25m.
With issues arising throughout the delivery phase, it emerged last year that the final figure would top £50m, with Bradford Council stumping up around £43m. In August last year, opposition councillors raised questions after the early events programme was shelved, and the venue’s place at the heart of the City of Culture year questioned.
Following the withdrawal of NEC Group in September last year, Bradford Council secured a new operator in Trafalgar Entertainment, which has invested £3m in fit-out over the course of this year.
Once a new operator had been brought on board, the council had argued that there was no longer any commercial prejudice and it was in the public interest to override the confidentiality clause. The ICO has supported this view.
The 3,500-capacity venue is expected, said the council, to attract 300,000 people a year to the district. Trafalgar has now announced an opening season of events, starting from Yorkshire Day next month.
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council, said: “We’re very pleased that the ICO has ruled today that there is public interest in releasing the settlement amount for Bradford Live. This is the result we wanted.
“As people can see, we secured a significant settlement from the NEC that protected the interests of the Bradford District taxpayer. We waited for the ICO appeal decision before publishing, given that there was an agreement with NEC which made such information commercially confidential.
“With the opening season for Bradford Live under the fantastic new operator, Trafalgar Entertainment, starting next month we can now all look forward with excitement to a wonderful future for this amazing building.”
