Town's summer sessions 'benefit local economy'

The organiser of a seven-day concert series says putting it on in a town centre park "benefits the local economy".

Peter Taylor, co-founder of Cuffe & Taylor which organises the Bedford Summer Sessions featuring acts including Rag-n-Bone Man, Simple Minds and McFly, said the Bedford Park venue was ideal because it had all the transport infrastructure around it to get audiences "in and out".

He said he was "committed" to the town and wanted the concert series "to continue and we want to be able to grow it".

Wells & Co, the Bedford-based brewery, said the event, which runs 3-13 July, was "vital" to the hospitality business.

Mr Taylor said the gigs were part of its "national series of concerts" with Summer Sessions also taking place in Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Plymouth and Southampton.

Some of the other gigs in Bedford included The Human League with the Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey and Blancmange; Supergrass with The Coral and Willie J Healey; and Café Mambo featuring Melanie C.

"Being in a town centre has more positives than negatives because if you're in the middle of nowhere, everyone's got to get there," said Mr Taylor.

"We've got trains to London, buses, local car parks."

As the event is put on close to houses "we meet with the residents, we do a lot of engagement with them, we talk to them", he added.

"We have noise limits in our licence so that protects them to make sure that we're not too noisy for too long."

Its current licence is for seven events over 11 days, with a limit of 15,000 people at each gig.

"What I think works in Bedford is a nice number between 7,000 and 10,000 a day," said Taylor.

"It's about consistency - bigger isn't always better."

Mr Taylor said: "Our preference is to have local food vendors.

"We recruit locally for all our bar and VIP staff, our security staff, but also it's the hotels and accommodation businesses.

"UK Music estimates that for every person that attends a concert, they spend £100 in the local economy. It really benefits the local economy."

A spokesman for Wells & Co, which has 16 pubs in the county town, including two that have accommodation, said: "As a hospitality business, these kinds of events are vital as they help bring energy and footfall into the town, encourage people to stay longer, and most importantly, they create moments of connection between local businesses and the community."

Shirley Scotcher, interim chief executive of the Bedford and Northants MS Therapy Centre, which is the Summer Sessions' charity partner, said the concert series raised "much-needed funds" but also shone "a spotlight on the conditions we support: MS and Parkinson's".

"These concerts give our members the opportunity to play an active role in supporting the centre they love and depend on," she said.

This year the Proms in the Park concert is returning on Sunday, 6 July, with Russell Watson and Lesley Garrett, because it was "something the audience in Bedford wanted", Mr Taylor said.

"We're already booking acts for next year," he added.

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