After nearly 50
years, the BRIT Awards are leaving London.
The biggest awards
night in UK music will take place at Manchester's Co-op Live in 2026 and
2027. It’s not quite the ravens leaving the Tower, but it does feel emblematic
of a wider trend.
The Mercury Prize, essentially the BRIT Awards’ muso
sibling, is also leaving the capital for the first time since 1992 this year,
when it heads to Newcastle.
It's not just events leaving London either; the English National
Opera is currently in the process of moving to Manchester; Channel 4 relocated
its head office to Leeds in 2021; the government is moving the civil service to
13 different locations outside of London, including a new digital and AI campus
in Manchester and energy campus in Aberdeen.
Speaking as a northerner myself, I’m delighted to see the
north finally getting its dues. My hometown of Halifax has emerged as a major
music destination in the last few years thanks to the refurbishment of the
Piece Hall, which has brought hip hangouts, great vibes, and big name acts from
Blondie to Limp Bizkit to what was, when I was growing up, a fairly placid market
town.
The great shift
out of London cannot happen without investment in infrastructure, however,
which is why I was pleased to see chancellor Rachel Reeves announce a £15 billion
investment in tram, train and bus projects across the Midlands, the
North and the West Country.
It’s much needed,
as newly-released figures have revealed that in the 10 years from 2013 to 2023,
the north missed out on £140 billion in transport funding. London received
£1,183 per person per year in transport spending over that period, while the
north got less than half of that – just £486 per person.
The events and institutions moving outside of London make
similar noises about their motives for relocating – “to turbocharge local
talent and expertise in these communities”, “to diversify the country’s
cultural offerings and support artistic and economic growth in other regions”, to
“decentralize operations and increase spending outside of London”.
While these are undoubtedly key aims of leaving London, I
also think the ever-escalating cost of living in the capital has played a part.
This year the average cost of a pint in the capital hit £8, and a recent Time
Out survey found that just 16 per cent of people in London thought that going on
a night out was ‘affordable’. Anecdotally, I know a good few people who have
moved out of London in the last couple of years, and for them the growing expense
of living in London - and the attraction of lower costs elsewhere - has been a major factor.
I have no doubt
that the BRIT Awards in Manchester will be a major success – Manchester’s passion
for music and love of a party more or less guarantee it. Here’s hoping that the
move inspires more UK event organisers to continue the trend of exploring life
beyond London.
