The philosophy of the management at the Iron Door was to give new artists the opportunity to perform on stage. In the words of Mr. Geoff Hogarth

"I used to tell the manager you must let them have a go. No matter who they are, or how good they are, they've got to have the chance to get on that stage."

Geoff Hogarth recalled Cilla Black's first time on the stage.

"So Cilla had been coming into the coffee-bar and this was lunchtime. She asked if she could go down and sing with the band. I don't remember which band it was, but it wasn't The Beatles that's for sure. So I said to Jess, one of the managers, 'Try to make some arrangements with the band to let this young girl sing.' I didn't know her name then and I went out for a coffee.

I was coming back down when I heard her through the big fan that we used to get rid of the condensation. I heard this powerful voice. I had never heard anything like it in my life. And I've heard a few voices and groups. And this came wafting through the fan. And it was Cilla Black! There weren't many girl singers going around at that time. She had only just started."

Geoff Hogarth mentioned Cilla Black's name to Sam Leach who was putting on an "All Night Session" at the Iron Door Club on the Saturday of that week. He told Sam

"You really should get this young girl for the kick off because she has a really powerful voice."

Hogarth considered that she was going to be a big success and added

"She had a really easy passage into stardom, did Cilla. She didn't have to do the circuit or anything. She went straight into the records."