• “FOCUS Wales is a truly special event”

    BBC Radio Wales
  • Cath Hurley (Future Yard CIC)

    Cath Hurley is Head of Skills and Development at Birkenhead music venue, FUTURE YARD. This includes overseeing Future Yard’s programme for children and young people, alongside PROPELLER which is an in-depth, free to access, artist membership scheme helping talented musicians professionalise. Cath is Future Yard’s safeguarding lead and is also the lead on the organisation’s IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility) framework. 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.