Mike Tyson put his cigar out - in the cheesecake

Jonathan’s job includes choosing which acts to bring to Cumbria’s biggest entertainment venue, and trying to make his wishes reality.

Thousands of people from across the county and beyond have seen the same faces he has. But Jonathan has enjoyed – and occasionally endured – a different perspective.

“I’ve had to tell Mike Tyson and Wayne Rooney to stop smoking,” he recalls. “Wayne Rooney was in the gallery watching Stereophonics and he lit a cigarette. I had to ask him to put it out.

“Mike Tyson was here for a sportsmans’ dinner. He lit a cigar. I had to walk up to him and say ‘Excuse me, Mr Tyson. In the UK you’re not allowed to smoke in a public building.’ He looked at me, and put the cigar in the cheesecake.”

Blondie have played at the Sands twice during Jonathan’s tenure. Most people remember the songs. He remembers a boiled egg.

“I went on the bus to meet the tour boss. Debbie Harry came on. She’d got a pair of furry slippers on. She bashed an egg on the sink, peeled it and said ‘Come and join me.’

“That’s one of those moments. You think ‘Ok, here I am eating a boiled egg with an icon in the Sands Centre car park.’”

Jonathan, 38, reels off some of the other acts he has helped to bring here. “Mumford and Sons. Kasabian. Level 42. Zutons. Curtis Stigers. 10CC. Jake Bugg. Blimey.”

Blimey are not a band, by the way. The word sums up the stature and variety of musicians on the Sands’ stage. Not to mention the comedians, actors and dancers.

The Sands has been criticised for not looking or feeling like a concert hall, such is its dual role as a sports arena. Jonathan sees this as a strength.

“People will always have opinions about what the Sands can and can’t do. I prefer to concentrate on all the things the Sands can and does do. Compared to more traditional venues the programme is much more diverse. Everything from symphony orchestras to ice shows, panto, ballet, opera.”

Jonathan Higgins His decade has seen 1,700 shows attended by 1.6m customers. Many come to see people they regard as heroes. The man who brings them to Cumbria has a different mindset.

“I don’t really understand ‘star struck’,” he says. “They are just people.

“Marti Pellow was here last week. He’s been here before and he was greeting people like long lost family. Alan Carr was offering chocolate bars backstage to the crew because it was on his rider and he wasn’t going to eat them.

“If they’re professional entertainers who’ve done it the hard way, they’re totally normal. They realise everybody has a part to play, from the person who puts the hand towels in the toilets to the person operating the lights.”

So there’s a lack of outlandish riders – the requests which artists make of venues. “If they want something specific it’s for a reason. If they want black towels instead of white it’s because they’ll be using them on stage and they don’t want them shining in the UV light.

“Jools Holland used to ask for 12 Cuban cigars and ‘12 local postcards with appropriate postage’. That’s how it was always worded.”

Ken Dodd Not star struck – but Jonathan is “in awe” of Ken Dodd, who returns to the Sands in July. “He’s 89 and I guarantee he’ll give everybody five hours. You ring him and he’ll give you 10 minutes on how a theatre should be run, in a nice way.”

Attracting big names is always a thrill, especially when they turn out to be as nice as you’d hoped.

“The first time we managed to get Lee Evans, we all fell out of our chairs. He was exclusively doing arenas. When he arrived he was opening the barrier in the car park himself. Our crew had gone to do it. He said ‘No, it’s fine.’ He stuck his hand out and said ‘I’m Lee Evans.’ I said ‘Well of course you are!’ He said ‘Well, I don’t like to presume.’”

“It’s easy to get blasé about what we do and forget the impact we have on the city and the wider region. Then something like that happens and you think ‘This is a pretty awesome thing to be doing.’”

The Sands Centre’s impact is economic as well as cultural. It boosts local businesses, and the county’s morale. This was never more evident than in the days after Storm Desmond. The Sands pantomime, Cinderella, proved a welcome distraction for thousands at a bleak time, even though the Sands itself had been flooded.

The River Eden runs behind the building. Jonathan recalls: “I’d been looking at the river all day. It looked angry. The children were sent home early from panto rehearsals. I’d heard there might be flooding. About 11 in the evening I drove towards the Sands and saw the army and the police on Warwick Road. I parked on Strand Road and walked up. I saw water flood into Wickes, The Turf and the Sands car park.

“About half a dozen of the crew had been out for a drink. I phoned them. We lifted as much of the panto set and equipment as we could off the floor. If we hadn’t, the panto would have been cancelled that year. As it was we only lost three shows.

“We got four to six inches of water throughout the building. In the days after, a small army of staff turned up and made sure the panto happened. It was humbling. I think it’s fair to say that we helped lift the spirits of the city. At every show there’s a bucket collection. The charity that year were kind enough to say ‘You must support the flood appeal.’ We raised £9,000 through the run. Kids were putting their pocket money in.”

Jonathan’s 10 years have seen 320 pantomime performances. Last year’s production, Jack and the Beanstalk, was watched by a record 25,000 people.

He doesn’t generally get emotional at Sands performances – too busy working and not being star struck. But the panto is a rare exception.

Robbie Dee “The one that gets me every year is the opening performance of the panto, for schools. Robbie Dee will say the first ‘Hello boys and girls!’ They go absolutely nuts. And on Christmas Eve somebody who looks suspiciously like me gets on stage in a Santa suit.”

Jonathan thinks the floods helped to cement the Sands’ place in its city’s heart. “We feel as if people want us to succeed. It’s great to have people say ‘You’re getting some big stuff here.’”

A growing reputation for delivering major productions has helped attract West End shows including Sister Act, Flashdance and Dirty Dancing.

“They’re hugely popular. Quite often musicals are particularly expensive. We’re bringing extra dressing rooms. When you start craning buildings over our building, bringing in extra crew and spending thousands on marketing, there’s never a massive slice in it for the venue.”

But it isn’t all about profit. In 2014 the Sands became part of Greenwich Leisure Limited, a charitable social enterprise which runs leisure centres around the country.

Jonathan describes the Sands as “the city’s community centre”. This is evident in its use for election counts. Last month, for the second time, it hosted Question Time.

David Dimbleby “David Dimbleby was totally engaging. He does more than 30 Question Times every year but it felt like it was his first one. There’s a saying in the entertainment business: ‘Every night’s the Palladium.’”

Sometimes the Palladium looks enviously to the Sands Centre. Last June indie legends Stone Roses played a show here in preparation for their four nights at Manchester City’s stadium.

Many Cumbrians regard this as the biggest coup in the Sands’ 32-year history. “I knew about four weeks before,” says Jonathan. “It was the toughest secret to keep. When tickets went on sale people were buzzing. When the crowd was singing along to those iconic songs you must have been able to hear them at Gretna.”

Here’s to another 10 years? “Absolutely. It’s been a remarkable journey with a great team.”