Andy Burnham's nightlife for Greater Manchester resigned after a company he was director was ordered to repay a £ 400,000 Covid loan.
Sacha Lord – who Mr Burnham's nocturnal economy – adviser was said in 2018 – claimed that the funds were used correctly, but acknowledged that there had been a small number of unintended supervision.
Primary event solutions – the company MR Lord was previously director of – received money from the Arts Council during the Pandemie at a time when the organization pumped billions in the catering sector to maintain companies.
A first study in 2022 into alleged fraud found no evidence of abuse of public money.
After new allegations had been made about the size of the role of the company in creative events, a new investigation was started in May last year.
Now the Arts Council has said that they 'want to reclaim the money' that is awarded to primary events solutions – which was removed in 2023.
In a statement, the Arts Council MailOnline said: 'We take our role as public money managers very seriously and have processes to assess requests. If we take care of us about a grant application or allocation, we will investigate and take the right action.
“After a thorough assessment of the application that primary events solutions were submitted to the Culture Recovery Fund in 2021, our decision to withdraw the granted subsidy and we try to reclaim this money.”
Sacha Lord (photo) claimed that the funds were used in the right way, but acknowledged that there had been 'a small number of unintended supervision'.
Labor -mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham. In 2018, Mr. Lord became the first night of Mr Burnham Tsar, who advised the Labor Mayor on managing the lively and eclectic nightlife of the city to manage
In his declaration of dismissal, Mr. Lord claimed that “there had been no finding against the company that it deliberately misled the doctor Council in this application.”
After his public statement, the body confirmed to MailOnline that Mr. Lord's request has violated a clause in the terms and conditions that read: 'You provided us with information that is wrong or misleading, accidentally or because you tried to mislead us. '
They added: 'We are not mandatory in this clause to determine whether the misleading information has been deliberately provided.
“We have found, however, that the applicant, primary event solutions, has violated this condition, or accidentally or otherwise, as a result of which we withdraw the subsidy.”
The controversy was discovered in May 2024 after the local news website The Manchester Mill published a piece that revealed that the company had changed its name of primary security to primary events solutions in October 2020.
This was three months before their successful application for a subsidy.
Despite the cash injection of public money, however, the company went into liquidation in September 2023 according to Manchester Evening News.
The Arts Council has now contacted liquidators and requested to be added as one of the company's creditors.
Primary event solutions – The company MR Lord was previously director of – received money from the Arts Council during the Pandemie at a time when the organization pumped billions in the catering sector to maintain companies
The Parklife Music Festival of which Mr Lord is a co-founder
Mr. Lord has been praised in recent years as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Manchester and has set up some of the most successful regions of the regions.
This includes Warehouse Project, which has been named one of the world's most favorite clubs, and the Parklife Music Festival – which was led last year by disclosing electronic music duo.
In 2018, Mr. Lord became the first night of Mr Burnham Tsar, who advised the Labor Mayor on managing the lively and eclectic nightlife of the city.
In a statement, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told MailOnline:
'In the past seven years, Sacha has been a brilliant and vocal champion for the nocturnal economy and cultural sectors of Greater Manchester during one of the most difficult periods in industry in industry.
'He has placed an enormous amount of time and energy in his work as a mayor adviser, to support our councils and many local companies. He has done all this completely free and from his own pocket, never received a payment or received for this work.
'Sacha has accepted that there were inaccuracies in a grant application, and I believe him when he says there was no intention to mislead and that he did not make a personal profit of the subsidy. In view of the fact that the doctor's counter team has previously not found any abuse of public money, it is not clear to me why the Arts Council has now made this decision.
'Sacha has gradually taken a step back from his role in recent months. Last night he resigned as a mayor adviser. With regret I accepted his resignation and respected his decision. We appreciate his dedication to Greater Manchester and the massive contribution he has made. '
In a statement, Mr Burnham thanked Mr. Lord for the fact that he was 'a brilliant and vocal champion for the nocturnal economy of Greater Manchester and cultural sectors during one of the most difficult periods of industry in living memory'
MailOnline has approached Sasha Lord for a comment.
In an earlier statement, released after the decision of the art council, Mr. Lord wrote: 'Although we recognize the change in the subsidy status, we appreciate that Arts Council England has established that there is no finding against the company The art council deliberately misled in this application.
'The company and his former directors have continued to work closely with Arts Council England to indicate that subsidy funds were used in the right way to support the wages of the staff and the company's stability during the pandemic. United we stream, for example, was a huge successful event that £ 583,000 collected to support cultural organizations, companies and people affected by Lockdown. Supporting such companies has always been my only mission in my different, unpaid roles.
'Given the current status of the company in liquidation and acknowledging that there is a small number of unintended supervision that have influenced the clarity of the application under the criteria, we accept that the subsidy status has been updated.
'That said, I will continue to worry about inconsistencies and a lack of proportionality when dealing with this issue. Not only was this application twice previously assessed by the organization's counter -fraud team, which, after investigating the financial evidence and invoicing, concluded in both occasions that it was at the subsidy guidelines, but the time the time has Taking the matter to a accurate increases to be caused for concern and these delays have taken an important, personal toll from myself and my family.
Moreover, the invasion of privacy, in particular the targeted intimidation of my wife during the last months of her pregnancy, is deeply disturbing and has only strengthened the importance of protecting and spending more time with my loved ones during this period of my life Like a new father.
'I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a city region recognition deserving as the' night-time capital of the UK ', in eighth place in the world's best cities for nightlife, surpassed worldwide destinations such as Budapest and Buenos Aires, and Successfully introduce initiatives that will transform our nightlife, such as 24-hour night buses. However, the emotional toll and experience in recent months has given me the opportunity to think and gradually back from my role in Greater Manchester. With sincere thanks to the mayor and his team, I decided to continue in this direction and to embrace a new chapter – to defend the sector at national level with new focus and energy. '
