Cath Hurley (Head of Skills and Development - Future Yard CIC)

Cath Hurley is Head of Skills and Development at new Birkenhead music venue, FUTURE YARD. As part of this role, she is the project lead of two major components of FUTURE YARD’s activity; an industry skills programme called SOUND CHECK that provides an entry level route for local young people in to careers in the live music industry, alongside PROPELLER which is an in-depth artist membership scheme helping talented musicians professionalise. Cath is committed to ensuring that FUTURE YARD is a true community venue and fulfils the needs of those that need it the most.

Cath runs MOSTDEFFO, a management company that works with three emerging acts. Cath has worked on artist development and mentorship schemes for the past few years and tries to be a positive and supportive voice in the music community. Cath taught music business at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts for 5 years and is a member of the Liverpool City Region Music Board, which was formed to support the music sector in her local region.

In 2022, Cath was invited to join the Brit Awards Voting Academy and also visited Texas for the first time as a speaker at SXSW. She is also a regular assessor of PRS Foundation’s Momentum Fund amongst others.

Previous to this, Cath was product manager at Rough Trade Records and worked on the debut album releases of both SOAK and Girl Band, amongst others. For a number of years before this, Cath specialised in online PR, digital marketing and social media management working with brand new acts through to well-known pop stars.

Future Yard is a new 300-capacity space situated at 75 Argyle Street, Birkenhead. This new community venue brings some of today’s most exciting national and international artists to Wirral, while at the same time providing key early performance opportunities for emerging local musicians.

Our building re-imagines the role of a live music venue, providing live industry training and a regional hub for artists development. Future Yard celebrates diversity and champions inclusivity. With the vital assistance of its growing community, plans are always developing so that we can ensure that live music and its industry are accessible to all.

The main driver for the team at the venue is the absolute life-changing effect music has on the lives of so many of us and that the power of music can be harnessed to create a force for change in the local community. Can Birkenhead become a new epicentre for exciting music? How can a music venue enable those in its surroundings to feel pride in where they come from?

Future Yard is surrounded by three of the most deprived Wards in the UK (Tranmere, Rock Ferry, Bidston). One of the main aims of Future Yard CIC is to provide opportunities for those that have faced barriers to not only experiencing music as a therapeutic entity, but also opening up the possibilities of careers in its industry.

Future Yard set out to create meaningful opportunities and pathways into careers in music almost immediately. Well before audiences were allowed in the building, training programmes were created and rehearsal studios built in the basement. Since October 2020, Future Yard has ran three intakes of Sound Check, a 12 week training programme for local young people to give them skills in running gigs, doing the lights and also mixing live sound.

Future Yard has hosted a fantastic and varied programme of shows since restrictions allowed, with acts such as OMD, Vlure, Pongo, Shame, Nubiyan Twist, Black Country New Road, Mono Neon, Audio Books and more. Each show has trainees shadowing the Future Yard team, gaining vital experience in safe and supervised surroundings.

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