Proclaimers rake in over £1m after booming year

SCOTS singers The Proclaimers raked in more than £1.1million last year by performing their hit songs, new figures have revealed.

The Proclaimers, Charlie and Craig Reid. Picture Ian Rutherford

The income of twins Craig and Charlie Reid’s firm almost tripled in the last 12 months thanks to a sell-out tour and the enduring popularity of their music.

The Edinburgh-born pop duo are famous for hits including Sunshine On Leith, I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and I’m On My Way which have been featured in numerous films, television shows and commercials.

Records filed with Companies House earlier this month show that 54-year-old brothers’ company Proclaimers Live Limited has total assets of £1,145,225.

That includes £1,138,028 held in a bank account, £6,965 owed by debtors and £232 in tangible assets and is more than £750,000 up on the previous year’s figure of £394,767.

The business owes £376,033 to unnamed creditors leaving it with a healthy profit of £769,192 for 2015.

The Reids set up the company in September, 2007, to help channel their income and it is based in the Leith area of Edinburgh where they grew up.

Their successful 2015 saw them play 68 venues as part of a UK tour and they released their 10th album, Let’s Hear It For The Dogs.

They are currently in America as part of a world tour which has included gigs in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

In a recent interview, Craig Reid said they were driven to succeed by fear of being back on the dole as they were in Edinburgh in the early 1980s.

He said: “We know what it’s like not to have money and be at the mercy of other people.

“I remember spending a whole day with Charlie at the DSS, queuing for housing benefit, crowded in like cattle and you had no say, no economic power. The fear of going back to that has helped gee us along whenever we’ve needed it.”

He said that they could now afford to stop touring but added: “Money’s not the thing that keeps you going, it’s the love of performing.”

The brothers formed The Proclaimers in 1983 and got their first record deal after appearing on Channel 4 show The Tube as an unsigned band.

They had their first big hit in 1987 when their song Letter From America reached number three in the UK charts.

I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) was featured in the 1993 film Johnny Depp film Benny and Joon. The then 5-year-old tune became a radio and MTV staple, and brought the duo massive international success.

The song topped the charts for Comic Relief in 2007 when the Reids re-recorded it with comedian Peter Kay and a cover was played on American television during last year’s Super Bowl.

Scottish playwright Stephen Greenhorn transformed the songs on Charlie and Craig’s 1988 album Sunshine On Leith into a musical.

It was later turned into a film that made more than £4.8 million at the UK box office and became the fifth highest grossing independent UK film of 2013.

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