Sacha John Edward Lord (born 26 January 1972) is a British political figure, entrepreneur, author and co-creator of the Parklife festival and The Warehouse Project.
After quitting his market job, Lord became involved in the rave-influenced music scene, and spent most of his time listening to The Stone Roses, Prince, The Smiths and David Bowie.
[4] It began operations in the disused Boddingtons Brewery in Strangeways, and then moved into a space under Manchester Piccadilly station, on Store Street, which previously served as an air raid shelter.
[3] The Warehouse Project went on to feature some of the most in-demand names in international house and techno music, including New Order, The Chemical Brothers and Calvin Harris - whose appearance, Lord later went onto reveal, was a favour for an A&R at Sony.
[8] Although not responsible for the incident,[8] Lord's campaigning followed the death of Nick Bonnie, 30, in 2013 who was found collapsed at a Warehouse Project rave after taking almost 15 times the standard recreational dose of MDMA.
[8] The role acted to advise Burnham and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on all issues relating to the night-time economy, providing a voice for workers, operators and the industry as a whole.
[18] In August 2018, Lord advocated for a fair wage policy for night-time hospitality staff, including full transparency tipping for bar and restaurant workers.
[19] In January 2020, Lord appeared on the BBC's Question Time programme, alongside Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly, Labour's Sarah Jones, National Farmers' Union president Minette Batters and stand-up comedian Geoff Norcott.
[21] In October 2020, Lord started legal proceedings against the Government regarding the implementation of a 22:00 curfew placed on hospitality venues during the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns,[22] and the introduction of the substantial food policy.
Lord's case argued the policy was discriminatory towards sections of society in disadvantaged areas who rely on wet-led pubs for community socialisation and cannot afford meals out.
[23] On 18 March 2021, Lord launched a new legal case against the Government over its continued closure of indoor hospitality, which he argued was unfair when compared to the reopening of non-essential retail.
[26] The petition challenged "The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021 to the extent that those Regulations provide for non-essential retail businesses to reopen before indoor hospitality businesses"[27] and was overseen by Mr Justice Swift who immediately requested Matt Hancock "shall by 10am on Tuesday April 6, 2021 file and serve his response to the application" to justify "why he is allowing non-essential shops to open before pubs and restaurants".
[27] In May 2023, Lord announced he was working with lawyers, JMW Solicitors, on a plan to help hospitality businesses recover hidden commissions paid to brokers by energy companies.
[33] Arts Council England said it was seeking to recover the funds awarded to a company called Primary Event Solutions, of which Lord was a minority shareholder, during the coronavirus pandemic.
[48] The accusation A £400,000 grant given to an events company co-owned by Greater Manchester's nighttime economy adviser has been pulled following a review, as Sacha Lord announced he had decided to leave the role.
Mr Lord, who also helped launch the Warehouse Project dance music events, said he was "concerned over inconsistencies and a lack of proportionality" in how the review was handled.