Manchester Pride has been put into voluntary liquidation and is being assessed by the charities regulator, with the future of the event in doubt.
Artists, suppliers and freelancers have been left unpaid, some of them owed thousands, the performers’ and creatives’ union Equity said.
After nearly a week of speculation and a period of financial difficulty, Pride’s organisers cited rising costs, declining ticket sales and an unsuccessful bid to host Euro Pride as factors behind the decision.
The organisation is a charity and limited company that campaigns for LGBTQ+ equality and puts on the annual parade and live events.
The company had been in financial difficulty, according to latest accounts, and gone through a series of directors in recent months. All three directors appointed in August resigned this month.
An up-to-date picture of Manchester Pride’s finances is not available, as the last update was submitted in September 2024 for the year up to December 2023, showing a consolidated deficit of nearly £500,000.
At that point, the company said it could continue to exist, as a “going concern”, as it said a review of the charity’s strategy would take place, detailed budgets and cash forecasts had been prepared for 2024 and 2025, and it had been in surplus up to August 2024.
Manchester Pride said at the time it had a plan to diversify income streams and rebuild cash reserves.
Accounts for 2024 are not due until 31 December this year.
A scene from Manchester Pride 2024. Pic: AP
As a charity, Manchester Pride Limited is regulated by the Charity Regulator, which said it had opened a compliance case “to assess concerns raised” about the organisation. “We are engaging with the trustees to help inform any next regulatory steps,” a spokesperson said.
It’s understood that Manchester Pride submitted a serious incident report relating to its finances.
What went wrong?
Directly impacted by the liquidation is freelance event manager Abbie Ashall, who is owed £2,000 after her pay day was missed in September.
Ms Ashall said she was not the worst hit; others are out of pocket even more, having hired and paid people for events they were contracted to put on, all with the expectation of being paid by Manchester Pride.
She had been an employee of Manchester Pride from summer 2023 to January 2025, but left to go freelance when staff members left and were not being replaced, raising concerns about resources to deal with an increasing workload. It was at that point that she assumed things were not going well financially.
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She continued to work for the organisation on a freelance basis, project managing the 2025 parade and now producing a musical, Spraywatch: A Beautiful Rescue.
Manchester Pride’s difficulties can, in part, be attributed to its model of getting people to pay for a wristband to access sites which are public spaces.
“I don’t think that the business model worked at the end of the day,” Ms Ashall said.
“And I think not enough people were buying tickets… we’re seeing a massive trend in the events and festival industry that people just are not buying”.
What next?
Creatives waiting to be paid have been urged to contact the Equity union.
“We are collecting contractual information to pursue all options to recoup money owed, and we will begin these processes immediately,” said Equity’s North West official, Karen Lockney.
“We are also 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”.
Details of those owed money have been passed to the liquidators, Manchester Pride’s board of trustees said in a statement.
What does this mean for Pride in Manchester?
A Pride celebration will take place in August next year with council support, Manchester City Council said.
“There will undoubtedly be anxiety about what the future holds – but 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.”
