‘Manchester Pride gambled with our pay for their greed – it didn’t pay off’

Tequila Thirst doesn’t want people to know how old she is.

She does, however, want people to know that Manchester Pride owes her a lot of money.

The LGBTQ+ charity announced last week that it had gone bust, citing slumping tickets, rising costs and a failed bid for Euro Pride as factors.

Accounting documents show the company had been in financial difficulty, with its collapse leaving artists, suppliers and freelancers unpaid.

Equity, a trade union for performers, told Metro that workers are collectively owed around £50,000.

Among them is Tequila, a drag queen living in Chester, who is owed £200 for her cabaret performance at the Pride’s new two-day Mardi Gras, a festival at Mayfield Depot.

Tequila’s contract, seen by Metro, states that Manchester Pride would pay her ‘in accordance’ with its payment schedule, so within 60 days.

‘A lot of us signed because you think, Manchester Pride, it’s massive. You’re very unlikely not to get paid,’ she says.

Manchester Pride began in 1985 as a two-week fundraising event. Since then, it’s grown to become one of the UK’s largest Pride events, alongside London and Brighton.

Star-studded line-ups became a yearly occurrence, with Ariana Grande, Sophie Ellis-Bexter and Olly Alexander among the headliners.

So, when Tequila heard nothing when reaching out about her pay, she could only think of one reason why: She wasn’t good enough.

Some 66 days after her gig, Manchester Pride went into liquidation.

‘It’s upsetting and disrespectful that we’re not being paid for all of our work and the love that we put into it,’ Tequila says.

‘To think they knew this already, yet they still booked us… I’m a full-time drag performer. This is my career. I’ve got bills to pay.

‘…I was speaking with someone out of pocket for over £1,000, which was their rent.’

Abbie Ashall, a freelance event manager, is owed double that.

The Manchester local never had an issue with pay in the two years she had worked for the charity.

‘So, when September 15 arrived and I still hadn’t received my final payment, I was surprised,’ Abbie, 29, says.

Pride staff told the theatre producer they would flag it with their finance team – Abbie soon found out Manchester Pride had collapsed.

‘It’s a large sum that I was relying on, and as a freelancer, you plan your workload carefully around expected income to make sure you can cover expenses,’ Abbie says, adding that the cheque was going to help cover the costs of her original musical, Spraywatch: A Beautiful Rescue.

‘It’s just disappointing that it’s come to this point, for myself and countless other freelancers, artists and businesses.’

Neither Abbie nor Tequila were surprised by Manchester Pride’s downfall.

For Abbie, the warning signs began when she noticed staff were quitting but not being replaced.

Tequila thought the same as she got on stage.

‘Depot was very quiet. The crowds weren’t nearly as big as you’d think they’d be. Where were all the people?’ she asks.

Ticket prices were a gripe among Pride-goers, the drag queen adds. Parts were free to attend, while others ranged from £15 to £200 for VIP access.

Why did Manchester Pride collapse?

Why Manchester Pride went into liquidation is still unclear. There are no up-to-date filings on the charity’s finances on Company House.

Metro understands that Manchester Pride submitted a serious incident report relating to the charity’s finances.

The Charity Commission, a regulator, told Metro: ‘We have opened a compliance case to assess concerns raised about Manchester Pride, including matters reported directly to us by the charity.

‘We are actively examining these matters with the trustees to determine our next steps.’

Manchester Pride’s last update was submitted for the year up to December 2023, showing a deficit of nearly £500,000.

Despite generating £2.7million in revenue, it lost £467,000 that year, almost as much as it lost in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

‘Manchester Pride became such a corporate beast,’ says Tequila. ‘I understand organisations need funding but they gambled with our pay for their ambitious greed. It didn’t pay off.’

‘The CEO and the board still haven’t really apologised to us,’ she adds.

Josh Wheeler, the founder of the PR firm Be Broadcast, who has gone to Manchester Pride for years, says that talks of profit margins and sponsors for an event that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives always felt off.

‘Sadly, this has also fed into an unpleasant narrative about our community, a bit of a gift for critics, when in reality Manchester Pride has been built on decades of effort, inclusion and celebration,’ he says.

‘The organisation was not realistic about what it could deliver within its parameters, and what is needed now is realism.’

What is the future of Manchester Pride?

The UK has become increasingly unfriendly towards LGBTQ+ people, campaigners have told Metro. Limited healthcare for trans youth, rising anti-LGBTQ+ violence and treatment of queer asylum seekers are among their concerns.

Fears that Manchester Pride would go with the organisers were eased when city officials said last week they will ‘support a new chapter for Manchester Pride weekend, which will take place next August’.

How this Pride will look is unclear but The Proud Trust, an LGBTQ+ youth charity based in Manchester, tells Metro that beyond the flags and glitter, Pride should be for the queer community.

The charity runs a Youth Pride event on the August bank holiday, which it throws on a shoe-string budget without funding from Manchester Pride, which handed out nearly 150 grants to grassroot groups.

‘We are absolutely committed to running it again next year,’ The Proud Trust says, ‘because LGBTQ+ young people need joy and celebration now more than ever.’

As much as questions over the future of Pride are being asked, the focus right now should be on the performers, Equity’s North West representative, Karen Lockney, tells Metro.

During meetings with members, Karen heard stories of self-employed members struggling to cover their medical prescriptions.

It’s why the union has launched a petition calling on the city council to ‘make up the shortfall’.

‘Pride brings tens of millions into the Manchester economy, but it is the performers who make the festival what it is,’ Karen tells Metro.

‘Before discussions begin over next year’s event, we must first ensure that all performers are paid for their work this year, and if they are not able to recover the money they are owed through the liquidation process, Manchester City Council must step in to support them.  

‘Trust has been damaged, and to rebuild confidence in any form of Manchester City Council-endorsed Pride we need to see a fair resolution for the cultural workforce of Pride 2025.’

In response, the council said to Metro that as Manchester Pride is a private company, it will go through the liquidation process.

The company earlier said that the details of workers and performers have been handed to liquidators.

Manchester Pride has been approached for comment.

What has Manchester Pride said?

‘A combination of rising costs, which are affecting the entire events and hospitality industries, declining ticket sales and an ambitious refresh of the format aimed to challenge these issues, along with an unsuccessful bid to host Euro Pride, has led to the organisation no longer being financially viable.

‘We regret the delays in communicating the current situation; however, we were keen not to jeopardise financial opportunities while our discussions were ongoing.

‘We were proactive and determined to identify solutions to the financial issues. We’ve been actively working with several partners, including legal and financial advisors, to do everything we could to find a positive solution.

‘The volunteer Board of Trustees are devastated at this situation and sad to share that our staff team will be made redundant. We, along with the team, have put our hearts and souls into the celebration and community activities over two decades and are very distressed at the position in which we find ourselves.

‘We would like to sincerely offer our thanks to all of our staff, volunteers and supporters who have contributed so much to Manchester Pride over the years.’

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