TONY Sykes has been a DJ in Bradford for 30 years but when the pandemic hit last year, everything came to a halt.

Now he is back with a new event management business; providing equipment and live acts for events, from corporate functions to weddings.

“When the first lockdown was announced, live entertainment came to a halt,” said Tony. “I parked my van in a warehouse in March 2020 and didn’t go back to it for a year-and-a-half.

"It’s been a tough time for people like me who work in the live events business, but I'm resilient - I have Yorkshire grit - and now I’m bouncing back.”

Tony, who is the resident DJ and toastmaster at the Midland Hotel in Bradford, has set up Tony Sykes Productions, specialising in equipment and entertainment hire to the leisure industry, in addition to supporting conferences and services in the private sector.

He founded the company in August 2020, in the midst of the pandemic.

“In times of crisis you have to diversify - you can’t just sit there,” said Tony, who was a well known disc jockey in the district in the 1980s and 90s. Known as the ‘Mobile Maestro’, he was the DJ at the Midland during its Pennington Midland era in the 1990s and is now back as resident DJ.

“I trained to be a professional toastmaster and now I can run weddings. I’m no stranger to taking on new skills and diversifying,” said Tony. “When I got the idea for this new business venture I wrote to 3,500 businesses in the region, and I got a phonecall from an international fork lift company based in Poland. I worked with them on events across the UK and next year we’re going into Europe. It’s been a fantastic success.”

Tony supplies PA systems and other equipment as well as DJ, MC and toastmaster services, live entertainment acts for a range of private and public sector events such as conferences, exhibitions and private parties. “The hospitality industry never shuts - hotel staff are putting out equipment for conferences during the night and if I get a call any hour or night or day I’m there to help out,” said Tony, who worked with the Business Support Team at Wakefield Council on marketing and launching a website.

Based in Wakefield, Tony secured Gainshaire from the Wakefield First team, supporting businesses to improve digital capacity, to develop his online presence. “I’ve got quite a lot of traffic to the site from hotels in Bradford,” he said.

Now Tony plans to expand the business and take on staff.

* Visit tonysykesproductions.co.uk