This article from my local newspaper should give you the idea on why the authorities are so tight on PEL’s
FFS £23,500 – OK its a big name and the old mincer’s management can afford it; but it just shows how the councils are determined to recover every penny of their time spent licensing an event…
and of course the cost gets passed back down to the punter, or the increased cost to the promoter is recovered elsewhere by reducing the wages of crew and production staff..
Local News 1/4/2005 – ‘We’re worth it’ town tells Elton
Row: over council’s £23,000 fee for hosting megastar gig
THE firm behind Elton John’s world tour has been told to settle up in a dispute over the fee to hold the megastar’s gig in Reading.
Promoter Marshall Arts Ltd tried to argue a £23,250 fee demanded by Reading Borough Council was far too much and asked for it to be cut.
But licensing bosses refused to budge at a meeting of the council’s licensing sub-committee on Wednesday, telling promoters “we’re worth it”.
The star is set to play Madejski Stadium on Thursday, May 26, to a 25,000 crowd.
The fee works out at less than £1 a head – for noise monitoring, complaints hotline, Health & Safety and licensing – while cheap seats at the gig cost £35 to £60.
Doris Porterfield, from Marshall Arts,said: “It’s not in line with anywhere else we have been, not just in the UK but internationally too. We are fortunate because of the revenue we are going to generate, but this is constrictive.”
Nine days after Sir Elton plays the Mad Stad he takes the tour to Stoke’s Britannia Stadium, where promoters are expecting to pay around a quarter of what Reading is charging.
Nigel Howell, spokesman for Stoke on Trent City Council, confirmed: “The licence has not been granted, but we’re charging in the region of £6,000.”
However, Clare Bradley, head of Reading’s licensing department, said: “This is a standard fee for a very large venue and in line with officer time.
“Reading’s fees, when you look at fees across the country, are one of the highest but it is at the high level because of the experience Reading has in holding large outdoor events.”
The authority pointed to its handling of the Reading Festival and Womad festivals at sites in Richfield Avenue.
Bet Tickner, who chairs the licensing sub-committee, granted Marshall Arts its licence.
She said: “You made the choice you wanted to come to Reading and I suppose, as far as I can tell, that was business based.
“This is the cost of holding such an event in Reading.”
And Councillor Jeanette Skeats, who told the meeting she already had her tickets, added: “I’m delighted you have decided to come to Reading and host this evening.”
