A 30-year delay in resuming his gap year has allowed Nottingham impresario George Akins to take a family-run venue and build a business that is now one of the UK’s most important independent live music groups. Looking back on a remarkable three decades, the DHP chief tells IQ about his strategy for growth and future plans for the company…

When your father is a titan of the business community, getting a job in the family firm might be inevitable, but for George Akins Jnr, his baptism of fire could not have been more badly timed.

“I was six weeks into a year-long break, in Australia, when my dad sacked everyone at Rock City,” recalls Akins. “So, when I made my regular call home, I was told, ‘You need to come back and run Rock City.’ A few days later, I caught a flight back… I thought I was only going to be there for a few months until things got sorted out. But 30 years later, here we are…”

One of Nottingham’s 20th century legends, Akins’ late father – George Akins Snr – built and operated an empire that included casinos, betting shops, amusement arcades, and an extensive property portfolio. “Rock City was a bit on the side for him, really,” says Akins, who at the age of 18 found himself in the position of being the venue’s boss. “I’d sort of been involved because I was into music, while music wasn’t really dad’s thing, so Rock City was not his core business.”

However, the teenager’s impact was immediate. Within a year, he had refurbished Rock City’s basement to create a 700-capacity space called The Rig. And his expansion of the business, year-on-year, has been pretty consistent ever since.

“It wasn’t really until maybe the late ‘90s that I started looking at proper expansion of the music side, because I’d also been doing sports bars. But at that point, it became clear to me that I needed to stick to what I was good at – the music-led stuff. So rather than identifying sites where I could sell alcohol, my mindset changed toward ‘How can I turn this into a music venue?’”

“Anton was the local indie promoter in Nottingham, working with acts like White Stripes and The Strokes”

George Akins Snr acquired the Rock City premises – then a variety club called Heart of the Midlands – in 1980. He co-founded Rock City with promoter Sammy Jackson, who had been running the Porterhouse in Retford, which was already established on the tour circuit.

“Sammy was there for about a year before Paul Mason was promoted and took over. But Paul was then poached by The Factory guys to run the Hacienda [in Manchester],” Akins tells IQ. “In the late 80s, Andy Copping ran things, and when I took over, he was still working for us as a consultant. Andy was great – someone I could call for support, and he was sort of my mentor for booking. I’d book the indie stuff, and he handled the rock stuff, right up until just before we opened the Rescue Rooms.”

Another key move in DHP’s growth was when Akins hired Anton Lockwood. “Anton was the local indie promoter in Nottingham, working with acts like White Stripes and The Strokes, so it was really important to bring him in the fold when we opened the Rescue Rooms. From then on, we started opening more places and doing more shows.”

Akins and his team had converted what was one of his sports bars into the Rescue Rooms, providing DHP with a springboard to work with acts at different stages of their career development.

Coincidentally, 2002 also marked the first time that the company promoted a show in an external venue, when they took System of a Down to Nottingham Arena.

Adding to the DHP Nottingham portfolio, dance music venue Stealth opened its doors in 2004, while the following year, Akins inked a deal with Heavenly Records to buy The Social, which would be renamed The Bodega Social Club.

“On Thekla’s opening night, we nearly sank”

Having four venues in his native Nottingham was close to saturation point for DHP’s boss. But rather than sit on his laurels, Akins’ ambition for growth saw the company looking at venues else- where in the UK to facilitate expansion.

“If I did anything else in Nottingham, it felt like it was going to be robbing Peter to pay Paul. We already had, at that stage, Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Stealth, and Bodega.”

All At Sea
The next path for expansion emerged in ship-shape fashion, in the form of Thekla – a boat in Bristol’s harbour, which was a legendary venue in the city. Adding to the task of fitting out a new live music venue, many others would have dismissed outright using a boat to stage gigs. “I was young, so everything was fucking possible,” laughs Akins. “It was all an adventure.”

He continues, “I’ve done everything imaginable in a venue: I’ve DJ’d, I’ve done the lights, I’ve done the cloakroom, I’ve even had a blast at sound engineering – I’ve never really been frightened of anything, so a boat didn’t faze me.”

That viewpoint was soon to change. “On Thekla’s opening night, we nearly sank,” he recalls. “The original owners had been pumping toilet waste into the harbour, and there was a hole where they pumped it out. Of course, when we put it into dry dock to do all the works, that hole was supposed to be sealed up. But it wasn’t. And we put water tanks on the roof, so as those tanks were filling up, the boat started listing, and when it hit the water line, it started filling up through the hole for the toilet waste.”

Despite that near disaster, the risky move turned out to be pivotal for DHP, expanding their remit and providing a catalyst for the company’s later expansion into London.

“I suppose I take after my dad in that way – my entrepreneurial attitude to things. I see opportunities, and I pounce on them”

Indeed, in 2024, DHP runs eight venues, having also taken on The Garage in London, and opened the adjacent The Grace, as well creating Oslo in a former Hackney railway building.

Akins observes, “I suppose I take after my dad in that way – my entrepreneurial attitude to things. I see opportunities, and I pounce on them.”

Looking back on three decades of what he thought was going to be a temporary job, Akins says, “DHP’s timeline for growth has sort of been venues, venues, venues; then a bit of festivals; then sort of building concert promotions and expanding that nationally, as well.”

Indeed, DHP’s first festival was in 1997. “It was City in the Park, which was a reference to Rock City. The first year was Saw Doctors, where we did 9,000 tickets, and the second year was The Corrs, which did 30,000 people. But we couldn’t make money – the ticket prices were not enough to allow you to make money on the infrastructure and the artist costs. But it was an opportunity to build a relationship with Nottingham Council, so it was definitely worthwhile.

“Then I tried to do a rock event called Distortion, which had sort of spawned from another event called Extreme 2000 – a pop-punk festival I had in 2000. We had Less Than Jake in the first year, then Green Day in 2001, and neither of them made money, but I could see the sprouts of an idea. But when I tried to get The Offspring for 2002 and couldn’t, I realised there just weren’t enough acts in that scene to make that happen. So I shelved it for a few years until Nottingham City Council had ambitions to bring an international class festival to the city and were ready to bankroll it.”

The company’s festival stable now includes the likes of Splendour, Bearded Theory, Dot To Dot, Beat The Streets, Society Exists, and Foolhardy Folk Festivall, while Akins admits he’s looking at other existing events for DHP to acquire.

“The real problem post-pandemic is inflation and opening a venue from scratch”

“With festivals, unless you have incredibly deep pockets, it’s very hard to create something from scratch. And it’s now the same with venues. But there will be opportunities elsewhere to become involved in existing businesses, and that’s what I’m looking for,” he reveals.

“Our growth since the pandemic has really been the festival stuff. Venue wise, there have been some opportunities, but the real problem post-pandemic is inflation and opening a venue from scratch. We had a building in Birmingham that we seriously looked at, but the construction costs just became insane and wouldn’t make financial sense.”

In terms of DHP’s promoting credentials, Akins cites Anton Lockwood’s partnership with NME that saw him booking acts for the Club NME tours as an eye opener for the company. But he reveals that the late Dave Chumbley, as well as fellow agents Paul Boswell and Ian Huffam, had helped persuade DHP to expand to national touring. “They recognised that there was a need to see some competition to the status quo. So, through Dave Chumbley, we did a national tour with Dropkick Murphys where we ended up doing a Brixton Academy-sized tour across the country. Then I did Human League with Paul Boswell, and shortly afterwards, Turin Brakes with Ian Huffam.”

Acts like Lana Del Rey, Nick Cave, New Order, and Flaming Lips would follow, cementing DHP’s credentials as a full UK promoter.

When it comes to his strategy for growth, Akins once again channels his father’s outlook.

“My whole career has been about just seeing opportunities that fit with me. If I see an opportunity, I jump on it. It doesn’t always stick. For instance, we had a good run with artist management – we represented Dog Is Dead and another artist called Indiana – and it was pretty successful, but it was just too time and energy intensive; it really is a 24/7 job.”

“We can grow in so many different ways – as a concert promoter, as a festival operator, as a music venue operator”

Noting that he always has numerous projects on his mind, he adds, “DHP is just very good at doing all the elements. I think that’s what sets us apart from our competitors. We don’t only do gigs, leaving someone else to do the club nights – we’ve got to do the club nights ourselves; we’ve got to do the gigs ourselves; we’ve got to do the bars ourselves. We don’t outsource anything. Our speciality is all those elements.”

With the company payroll now covering 400 people, DHP has inevitably attracted the interest of some of the corporate behemoths. “The problem is, if you sell to them, you’ve got to work for them. And I’m unemployable. I’ve worked for myself essentially since I was 19 years old,” states Akins.

And as for future expansion, he concludes, “We can grow in so many different ways – as a concert promoter, as a festival operator, as a music venue operator – and I never really know which it’s going to be each year. But the plan is always music-related, recognising opportunities, and pouncing when we see them.

“It’s redbrick university towns that interest me. I’m not going to be opening venues in secondary university towns where there’s not the audience. It has to be redbrick towns where you know you’re gonna be able to promote a significant number of shows in the city.

“There are always opportunities bubbling. I’ve got probably three ideas running at the moment, but I’m not sure if all three might happen or none of them might happen. But in terms of the next five years, nothing’s off the table.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

A convoy of 55 Harley Davidson bikers has delivered the ashes of Motörhead legend Lemmy Kilmister to Rock City in Nottingham following the close of this year’s Bloodstock festival.

The specially-created Lemmy Forever memorial urn commissioned by Bloodstock has now taken up residence at DHP Family’s flagship Rock City in Nottingham, where Motörhead played 10 times from 1987 to 2006.

It will remain on public display at the venue before returning to Bloodstock, which is held at Catton Hall in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, each August.

“We are so excited that the Lemmy Bust has arrived at its new home here at Rock City, and are honoured that Bloodstock Festival chose our venue to host the bust here between his annual pilgrimage back to their event each year,” says Rock City programmer Amy Lawson. “It seems fitting that a bust to celebrate such an iconic trailblazer in rock will stay in a venue which is tied so closely to his musical heritage. We can’t wait to welcome his legions of loyal fans to pay their respects to the icon.”

Also in attendance at yesterday’s (12 August) handover were Bloodstock festival directors Adam Gregory and Vicky Hungerford along with Alan Hungerford, Lemmy’s PA.

DHP recently announced it is reopening historic 2,500-capacity Nottingham venue Pryzm, which will be returning to its original incarnation of The Palais

At this year’s Bloodstock, fans were able to view the Lemmy Forever memorial and pay tribute to Lemmy and his legacy. The re-creation of Lemmy’s dressing room featured a host of his personal items including his hat, boots, bass guitar, and hand-drawn pictures, as well as handwritten lyrics, dressing room paraphernalia, and a never-seen-before selection of his personal photos.

Meanwhile, DHP recently announced it is reopening historic 2,500-capacity Nottingham venue Pryzm, which will be returning to its original incarnation of The Palais ahead of celebrating its 100th year in 2025.

The Palais, which first opened 24 April 1925 as a dance hall and billiard saloon, was reinvented as a nightclub in the late 80s, hosting the TV show Hitman and Her and has been known by several names including the Ritzy and Oceana. It is set to reopen from mid-September.

“As a local business deeply rooted in Nottingham’s music scene, we feel it’s only right to recognise the heritage of the venue and revive Nottingham’s original dancehall,” adds The Palais manager Sam Dye.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

DHP Family’s charity festival Beat the Streets raised £89,500 for the homeless population in Nottingham, England.

The award-winning festival takes place in January across multiple venues in the city, where the UK independent venue operator is based. The money raised this year surpassed the £76,000 ($95,000) raised last year.

Since launching in 2018, Beat The Streets has raised more than £400,000 ($500,000) for Framework, the charity that supports the homeless population of Nottingham, and has directly benefitted more than 300 individuals.

This year’s funds will go towards the creation of eight self-contained flats for people who have been on the streets for more than 20 years.

The accommodation will provide rough sleepers with permanent housing combined with a program of unlimited person-centred support towards independence.

They will also be able to access Framework’s other services dedicated to drug, alcohol, mental health, and employment support, and more.

“We hope to continue to use our expertise as music promoters and festival organisers to make a difference”

This year’s Beat The Streets lineup featured Ferocious Dog, 7th In Line, Alt Blk Era, Jerub, Lacey, Palm Reader, The Publics, Victory Lap, and many more.

“As a Nottingham-based company, it means a lot to all of us that work here to continue to deliver a fantastic Beat the Streets festival each January as we know how vital the funds are to Framework and the people they support across the city,” adds DHP Family’s MD George Akins.

“We hope to continue to use our expertise as music promoters and festival organisers to make a difference. We are extremely grateful to all the artists who give their time to play and each and every person that bought a ticket as together, we are helping to support something very worthwhile.”

Beat The Streets is delivered by DHP Family in collaboration with local organisations and music groups including I’m Not from London, Farmyard Records, Hockley Hustle and Rough Trade.

DHP promotes national tours and concerts, operates music venues, organises festivals and manages artists.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Former Beautiful South members Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott are performing a free show for National Health Service (NHS) workers at the 9,000-capacity Nottingham Motorpoint Arena.

The show will take place on Tuesday 13 October as part of a UK tour, which has recently been rescheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak. The tour is promoting the duo’s recently released album, Manchester Calling.

NHS staff, “including but not limited to doctors, nurses, support workers, porters and cleaners”, will be eligible for free tickets to the show.

“The coronavirus pandemic should remind everyone, and let no-one forget, that our National Health Service is the most brilliant and significant institution in our lives”

“The coronavirus pandemic should remind everyone, and let no-one forget, that our National Health Service is the most brilliant and significant institution in our lives,” says Heaton.

“The men and women who serve us and care for us, give us hope and sacrifice for their own wellbeing, can never be thanked enough. We are just musicians, so there is little we can do but sing for you.”

Tickets will be available from 7 p.m. on Tuesday 31 March, and will be limited to two per person. Ticketholders must bring a valid NHS or Primary Care Trust identification card to the show. More information can be found here.

Photo: Simon Fernandez/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) (cropped)

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and National Ice Centre (10,000-cap.) has celebrated its greenest event day in history, recording its lowest-ever electricity and water consumption as part of it ongoing Greener Arena campaign.

On Friday 15 March the live entertainment and sports venue successfully used less energy than on any other event day, beating its previous lowest electricity usage by 1000 kilowatt hours (kWh).

The day, named Greener Arena Day, saw team members working together to promote the venue’s eco-friendly initiatives and environmental solutions, which come under the venue’s Greener Arena umbrella campaign.

Throughout the day, the arena generated a total of 1063 kWh of electricity from solar panels.

Environmental initiatives include rooftop solar panels, a waste water system, biodegradable polystyrene cups and recycled paper. The venue also has a dedicated environmental group that looks for new ways to reduce energy consumption.

The arena has reduced its energy usage by over 20 percent over the past five years.

“We have built some real momentum engraining sustainability into the culture of our business”

In 2017, the arena became the first UK indoor entertainment and sports venue to introduce eco-friendly cups, both fully reusable and recyclable. The venue is also a zero-landfill site, with 40 percent of waste recycled and the remainder used to power the building.

During the Greener Arena Day, team members made pledges to reduce their personal carbon footprints, including taking public transport, going paperless, using reusable water bottles and cutlery and avoiding unnecessary lighting.

“We have built some real momentum engraining sustainability into the culture of our business,” comments Lee Chadburn, head of facilities at Motorpoint Arena Nottingham. “Our industry doesn’t lend itself to changing processes and systems overnight, but we are leading the way we operate environmentally compared to other arenas.

“We’re not perfect but continue to take steps towards sustainability at every opportunity,” adds Chadburn.

Examples of recent environmental initiatives across the music industry include ID&C’s eco-friendly event wristbands made from recycled plastic bottles and bamboo and Glastonbury Festival’s blanket ban on single-use plastic bottles.

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham’s environmental policy can be found here.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free digest of essential live music industry news, via email or Messenger.

UK ticket agency Gigantic is on course for a record year after posting turnover growth of 21% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018, its busiest to date.

The Nottingham-based company’s achievements in Q4 include an exclusive Spotify presale for Pink’s UK tour, new deals with Nottingham City Council and Visit Nottinghamshire and the deployment of its ticketing solution for multiple Christmas market events, including Nottingham Winter Wonderland, Christmas in Wallsall and Sheffield’s the Village Screen Christmas.

Mark Gasson, the company’s founder, comments: “We experienced a record year in 2017, with more than 20,000 separate events available via gigantic.com and 1.5 million tickets sold, an increase of 500,000 ticket sales year on year. As we approach the end of 2018 we remain confident that we will deliver another successful year of record results.

“Next year is going to be an incredibly exciting year for Gigantic, with lots of new technological developments due to launch and new business agreements already in the pipeline.”

Gigantic, founded in 1997, works with the UK’s biggest promoters, festivals and venues, including Live Nation, DHP Family and AEG Presents; Reading and Leeds, Tramlines and Download; and O2 Academy Brixton, Wembley Stadium and Rock City, Nottingham.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Ahead of the 2018 festival season, UK ticket agency Gigantic has revealed it has almost doubled the size of its festival roster since 2015, with an 84% increase in the number of festivals it has put on sale over the past three years.

Gigantic, an independent ticketing company based in Nottingham, has almost 300 festivals on sale, with founder Mark Gasson saying indie events appreciate a partner who can help ease the “myriad demands” on festival organisers’ time.

Cornwall’s Leopallooza, Kent’s Southbeats, PennFest in Buckinghamshire, Chagstock in Devon and Handmade in Leicester are among the latest events to appoint Gigantic as their lead ticketing agent, joining existing clients Reading and Leeds Festivals, Lovebox, Download, Latitude, Tramlines, the Great Escape and Indietracks.

“We consider ourselves as the best friend to independent festival and events”

In 2018, an estimated 500,000 customers will be scanned through Gigantic’s ‘queue-busting’ access control system at events across the country.

“We have significantly strengthened our position within the extremely competitive marketplace over the past 18 months,” comments Gasson. “We pride ourself on working closely with festival organisers because we are passionate about what we do. We are proud to be independent, which allows us to be flexible and supportive.

“We consider ourselves as the best friend to independent festival and events.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Senior execs at DHP Family and Academy Music Group and the tour managers for London Grammar and Frank Turner will be among the women sharing their experiences of working in the male-dominated live music industry at next week’s Women in Music Event hosted by UK promoter DHP.

The event, on Wednesday 7 March at Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, will be introduced by Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body ALMR, and comprises panels featuring insights from women working in the business, as well as those advocating for change.

DHP Family’s Michele Philips says: “Our ambition is to shine a spotlight on the issues including, but not exclusive to, why women don’t apply for positions in venues anymore, and also provide a platform for positive change. We want to identify tangible things that can be done to address the shocking levels of gender imbalance that still exist throughout the industry.

“It feels like the right time for us to be trying to bring about change in our industry”

“The #MeToo movement has been incredibly powerful in that it’s given a voice to the marginalised, but also put the issue of inequality at the forefront of many discussions. It feels like the right time for us to be trying to bring about change in our industry, especially with it being 100 years since some women gained the right to vote. We should all be looking at ways in which we can make a difference.”

The company’s owner, George Akins, adds: “It’s really important to try and encourage more women to break into our industry. Nottingham is a hotbed for music companies: we have promoters, record companies, ticket agents and talent managers working across all genres of music on a national level. I really believe if we can address the imbalance in Nottingham it will have a strong effect across the country.

“Hopefully this event will show that there are roles and support for more women to get involved.”

For more information and a full line-up of panellists, visit the event’s Facebook page. To buy tickets, click here.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Deputy CEO of Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and National Ice Centre, Martin Ingham, has been appointed chief executive of the venue and its indoor ice rink.

Ingham takes over from Geoff Huckstep who retired in May after 15 years. Since then, Ingham, who is also chairman of the National Arenas Association, has been the interim replacement. He joined Motorpoint Arena in 2002.

Discussing his promotion, Ingham said: “I have loved working at this superb venue from day one. The combination of delivering both sport, from social activity to competitive and Olympic level athletes, and world class entertainment, including concerts, comedy, sport and family shows, is unique and utterly compelling to work within.

“When you add in a team of staff that display such extraordinary skills, dedication, tenacity, creativity and humour that the complexities of our industry demand, then it is an even greater privilege to be appointed to the role.

“I am really looking forward to developing the relationships with our extensive range of stakeholders to ensure that we continue to further improve the range and quality of our services.

“We have numerous exciting projects already in the pipeline and the whole team are looking forward to delivering these for the benefit of all our customers, the city of Nottingham and the East Midlands region as a whole.”

“We have numerous exciting projects already in the pipeline and the whole team are looking forward to delivering these for the benefit of all our customers, the city of Nottingham and the East Midlands region as a whole.”

Chairman of the Motorpoint Arena and National Ice Centre, Mich Stevenson, added: “I have really enjoyed working closely with Martin over the past six months and have been impressed with the way that he has led the company through a smooth transition since Geoff Huckstep’s retirement in the summer.

“The board are delighted to endorse Martin with his appointment to chief executive, a role which he has clearly demonstrated he is more than capable of performing.”

“The board are delighted to endorse Martin with his appointment to chief executive, a role which he has clearly demonstrated he is more than capable of performing. There are exciting challenges ahead and we are confident that Martin is the right person to lead our wonderful team of staff.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

A Hallowe’en-themed music festival in the English city of Nottingham was called off early on Saturday night after fence breaches led to dangerous overcrowding.

Detonate Halloween, at Nottingham Racecourse, ended at around 20.30 – three hours early – on the advice of the festival’s health and safety officer and Nottinghamshire police, cancelling or cutting short sets by Kano, New York Transit Authority, Kurupt FM, Andy C, TQD and The Prototypes and 2Shy. A sister event at the O2 Academy in Sheffield went ahead as planned.

In a statement, promoter Detonate says: “We are truly gutted that an event which we’ve been working on for the last six months ended the way it did. We’d like to thank everyone for leaving the site in a calm, orderly way.

“The safety issue was due to the majority of people wanting to be in one tent, which caused large queues. When some of the surrounding fence was breached and crowds surged, action had to be taken to avoid people being injured.

“Closing just one tent wasn’t an option, as it would have caused the same issues at other arenas. We had no choice but to start a phased closure of the site”

“Flow of people is estimated based on capacities of each area; popularity of the acts which are on at the same time in each arena; and dynamic assessments on the day. We surveyed our ticketholders in the lead up to the event by asking them which acts they most wanted to see, and used this data to programme set times. Queuing systems were in place to prevent any one tent becoming overcrowded.

“In the case of The Boneyard [tent], this meant that people inside didn’t leave, even when relatively small acts were on, as they could see it would take a while to get back in. As a result, there was very little flow of people in and out of that arena and long queues of people who were rightfully frustrated by not being allowed inside the tent. When this situation worsened and started to pose a risk to people’s safety, the music was switched off. Closing just one tent wasn’t an option as it would have caused the same issues at other arenas. From then on we had no choice but to start a phased closure of the site.”

Detonate is currently offering refunds on drinks vouchers. Regarding ticket refunds, it says it is “working out how we can compensate people, and will update very soon”.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.