M L
PIONEERS OF BEATLES TOURISM INDUSTRY HONOURED BY LIVERPOOL
Bill Heckle , Managing Director of Cavern City Tours and Dave Jones , its President , have been made Citizens of Honour at a special ceremony at Liverpool Town Hall .
Bill ( a former teacher ) trained to be a Beatle guide in 1982 and after forming the company in 1983 was joined by Dave in 1986 when they organised their first Beatles Convention .
1991 proved a landmark year for the dynamic duo as they acquired both The Magical Mystery Tour and – critically – The Cavern Club the fortunes of which they would dramatically transform from a closed building into a major live music venue and hugely popular tourist attraction .
Their Beatles Convention also quickly developed at this time and in 1993 evolved into the Mathew Street Music Festival , which in just a few short years became Europe ’ s largest annual free event of its kind , attracting more than 100 live acts and 300,000 people to the city every August Bank Holiday weekend .
One of their greatest and proudest achievements was to organise the Hillsborough Justice Concert at Anfield stadium , in 1997 , which helped to raise more than £ 500,000 . This vital sum was used to pay for the legal costs for the families in their pursuit of the truth into the 1989 football disaster .
Bill and Dave later acquired an iconic and historic building in North John Street which became the Hard Days Night Hotel . Although no longer the owners , the hotel opened in 2008 during the city ’ s year as European Capital of Culture and continues to welcome guests today .
Having already unveiled a statue to John Lennon in Mathew Street – as well as the city ’ s original Pop Music Wall of Fame – to celebrate The Cavern ’ s 40th anniversary , in 2015 they famously gifted the city a statue of The Beatles .
Situated on the waterfront , the figures of John , Paul , George and Ringo walking on the Pier Head has become one of the most photographed landmarks in England .
As owners of The Cavern , the pair , along with co-Directors Julia Baird , George Guinness and Jon Keats , have sought to continue to manage it as a live music venue celebrating new and diverse acts , and as a result helped to play a key role in Liverpool ’ s status as a UNESCO City of Music .
The world famous venue has hosted some of the biggest names in the industry such as Oasis , Adele , The Arctic Monkeys , Jessie J , The Coral and in July 2018 , Sir Paul McCartney performed a legendary 28-song set promoting his No1 album Egypt Station . He also gave his final concert of the 20th century at The Cavern in December 1999 , which was broadcast live by the BBC .
It is estimated that today , the legacy of The Beatles is worth approximately £ 100m to the Liverpool economy each year , annually attracting more than 600,000 visitors and supporting almost 2,500 jobs in the city .
Lord Mayor of Liverpool , Cllr Roy Gladden said : “ Liverpool ’ s tourism industry owes a huge debt of thanks to Bill Heckle and Dave Jones . They had the vision to recognise the potential of the city ’ s unrivalled musical heritage in attracting visitors and their legacy is all around us every day of the year .
“ I ’ m personally delighted for them both that they are to be made Citizens of Honour of Liverpool – it ’ s a richly deserved recognition for the pioneers of Liverpool ’ s Beatles tourism industry .”
Dave Jones said : “ When Bill Heckle and I first started working together our aims and objectives were simply based on our belief and passion in Liverpool . We set out to promote the city ’ s unique music heritage and introduce , the media , the tourism industry and visitors to the spirit of Liverpool , enhance their experience and give them something no other city in the world could . Our success over the past four decades has been driven by vision and taking every opportunity we have been given to develop Liverpool ’ s Beatles industry . We never set out to receive awards and accolades . To be nominated for Citizen of Honour awards is amazing . We feel a huge sense of pride and emotion that our work has received this level of recognition .” merseylife . com 13