Ex-Beacon chief given uni honour
THE woman who led the transformation of Bristol’s biggest concert venue from the Colston Hall, through a £132 million rebuild to a new life as the Bristol Beacon has been awarded an honorary degree by one of the city’s universities.
Louise Mitchell received an honorary doctorate of arts degree from the University of West of England in her last week in the role as the chief executive of Bristol Music Trust, the charity that runs the Bristol Beacon.
The award comes in the same week the Bristol Beacon’s transformation and rebuild has been shortlisted for a prestigious award by the Architects Journal.
The now-former chief executive was among nine people being celebrated with honorary degrees at UWE, and received hers in ‘recognition of her contribution to national and international cultural leadership and her dedication to voluntary roles.’
Louise Mitchell took over as chief executive of the Bristol Music Trust when it was set up as a music charity to run the then council-owned Colston Hall by the city council back in 2011.
She led the hall through the 2010s, including its closure to undergo refurbishment, and the decision in 2017 to drop the Colston name.
Bristol Music Trust was set up to manage the hall, and take a regional overview of music promotion.
She oversaw the troubled £132 million transformation, which went around £80 million over budget.
She receives the award from UWE in the same week as the publication of a ‘lessons learned’ report into the Bristol Beacon project, which found that there were serious failings in leadership of the project at City Hall in the early stages of the project among the Labour-led council.
“I’m deeply honoured to receive this prestigious degree from the University of the West of England,” she said. “I’m delighted that our work to make great music available to everyone at Bristol Beacon is being recognised.”