Inside The Collective
Following a successful breakout year, Founder Mike Dignam reflects on the launch of The Collective, offers an inside look at their Soirée De Luxe celebrations and shares his plans for the year ahead
IMAGES: Kyle Mac Photography - commercial.kylemacphotography.co.uk
For those who may not yet be aware of The Collective, what is the concept?
We’re a luxury entertainment company based in the North West, providing high-quality artists and performers for weddings, parties and corporate events. We specialise in curated concepts with clear identities to provide unforgettable entertainment and the perfect soundtrack for our clients’ events.
You are an experienced performer, graduating from ICMP in London and accomplished singer/songwriter and guitarist. What inspired your creativity from a young age?
I was always drawn to music as a young child. I particularly enjoyed drums, piano and guitar and found them fascinating, and always loved creating and learning new songs. I was inspired by all kinds of music and how it made me and others feel, how it can create a certain atmosphere and how powerful it can be.
How did this lead to you launching The Collective?
I saw too many talented artists not getting the opportunities they deserved, but also recognised that for raw talent to reach the world of high-level events, there needed to be some serious investment and time spent on creating the bands and concepts that were suitable for that clientele.
I felt that Manchester was crying out for a company focused on luxury entertainment and a company that understands that market - NDA events, client discretion and privacy, and the way high-profile events need to be delivered.
You have acquired a unique assemblage of talent that performs at weddings and events across the UK. How do you scout and approach talent to work with you?
We scout in various ways; we have relationships with music schools, we scout through social media platforms and often artists lead us to other musicians.
We also hold auditions from time to time, and occasionally artists approach us too. It’s very important to ensure that each musician is right for the position they are needed in and to understand the different textures and tones of their voices and how they would all work together in a concept. Performance is crucial. Ability alone doesn’t grant you access to be in one of our bands. We are looking for great performers who understand how to put on a great show.
You have worked with some incredible brands in your first year, everyone from Chester Racecourse and The Ivy to Boodles and Lamborghini. What have been your biggest success stories from the last 12 months?
We’ve had several standout moments over the last year including performing at a wedding featured in Vogue at Chateau Challain in France and entertaining on Giorgio Armani’s yacht for a private event in Monaco. We were also proud to work with both Make Events on the Pioneer Awards at Co-Op Live in Manchester and Square Fish for the Manchester PA Network Awards, where we were able to engage with so many incredible Manchester businesses at such a fantastic event. Finally, celebrating our first year in Manchester by completely transforming the space with our friends at House of Verve to bring our vision to life and inviting many of our clients and guests to celebrate with us was a really beautiful moment.
You recently hosted Soirée De Luxe to celebrate The Collective’s first anniversary. Why did you choose Manchester as the location for the celebration and what feedback have you received from the event?
Manchester is our home base where we are building the brand, and we are proud to be a northern company working in luxury entertainment. The event went better than we could’ve imagined, there was an energy in the room that felt hard to explain and the night exceeded my expectations in every way. I was blown away by the amount of industry, family and friends that came to support us and blown away by my team, who all came together to showcase what we’re all about. It was a special moment for our clients and peers to experience our company for the evening, as a lot of our clients don’t always get to do that.
What plans do you have in place for 2026?
In 2026, we’ll be officially launching our two new concepts, Scarlett and AURA, to the market. We’ll be performing at The Savoy and The Rosewood in London in April for the RSVP Awards, which we’re really looking forward to, and we have several international events in the diary in the South of France and Italy.
We're looking forward to building on our relationships with key event planners and continuing to evolve our concepts. We’re aiming to be recognised as one of the UK’s leading luxury entertainment companies and to
keep providing opportunities for local talent and our existing artists into 2026 and beyond.
IMAGES: Kyle Mac Photography - commercial.kylemacphotography.co.uk
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