‘Everyone welcome at venue’

PEOPLE who still want to call Bristol Beacon by its old name of Colston Hall are still welcome at the venue, the concert hall boss has said.

Louise Mitchell said she ‘didn’t care’ what people call it as long as they come along to concerts and events there, and feel welcomed.

The chief executive of Bristol Music Trust, which announced it was dropping the name of the concert hall in 2017, said the renaming was important because there were people who felt excluded by the concert hall bearing the name of a 17th century slave trader.

Ms Mitchell said the decision was taken to change the name for many reasons, but one of the main ones were that members of Colston Hall’s own staff who said their family members felt they couldn’t come through the doors, because of the name.

The name prompted a campaign stepped up in 2015 and 2016 with the setting up of the Countering Colston organisation.