Key Burnham ally shut down firm after it was told to repay £400,000 in taxpayer cash

One of Andy Burnham’s key allies shut down an events firm after it was told to repay £400,000 of taxpayers’ cash.

Sacha Lord is a well-known face in Manchester’s nightlife sector as the founder of music events such as Parklife festival and the Warehouse Project, and he was among those invited to Burnham’s first speech as Prime Minister outside 10 Downing Street on Monday.

During his time as mayor, Burnham handed Lord a role as his first-ever nighttime economy adviser, and described him as someone with a “wealth of experience” and a “real Greater Manchester success story”.

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But Lord stepped down from the role last year after Arts Council England (ACE) said it was seeking to recover a £400,000 Covid grant awarded to Primary Event Solutions, as the firm had supplied it with “misleading” information.