Pioneers of Liverpool's Beatles tourism honoured by the city
It is estimated that the Beatles tourism in Liverpool has created nearly 2,500 jobs over the years
Two Liverpool residents, who are credited with pioneering the city's Beatles tourism scene, are being made 'Citizens of Honour' today at the Town Hall.
This includes former teacher Bill - who initially trained to be a Beatles guide in 1982 before setting up his own company in 1983 - and Dave, who joined Bill in organising their first Beatles Convention in 1986.
It is estimated that today, the legacy of The Beatles is worth approximately ÂŁ100m to the Liverpool economy each year, annually attracting more than 600,000 visitors and supporting almost 2,500 jobs in the city.
The pair are credited with playing a major role in these statistics by acquiring and transforming The Magical Mystery Tour and the infamous Cavern Club - the latter of which became a disused building in the 1980s before being turned into the world famous music venue it is today.
Now, the club 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 himself - who performed a legendary 28-song set promoting his No1 album Egypt Station.
Their Beatles convention is also heavily credited with promoting tourism in Liverpool - attracting more than 100 live acts and 300,000 people to the city every August Bank Holiday weekend.
The pair also organised the Hillsborough Justice Concert at Anfield stadium in 1997, which helped to raise more than ÂŁ500,000 for the families of those that died.
On today's honouring ceremony, Dave 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.”
The honouring ceremony is due to take place this afternoon.