As one of those there at that Manchester meeting (which was at the Midland Hotel, not the Free Trade Hall) - yes, we achieved a few things. We had another well-attended meeting in London and set up regional groups, and the London/South East group ran a series of "Cheer Up January" events in various pubs, where we were welcomed in to do an informal song session. We also ran a hiring fair event at Bracknell Folk Festival. I'm sure other regions did other stuff as well, although it's less imprinted on my memory for the obvious reason that I wasn't there!
Dick was already a nationally known performer, of course, which is one reason we achieved anything at all.
The major reason for starting Perform was to ginger up the EFDSS, as it had become a caricature of the "Dance Earnestly and Forget About Song Society". I think we felt by the time we wound up the Perform structure that we'd managed to do this - albeit in a limited sort of way. I don't think that improving the working conditions for professional performers was ever one of the main reasons for setting it up so it's not really surprising if it didn't succeed in that.