Coventry’s Ricoh Arena has seen a 10 per cent rise year-on-year on the number of events it has staged since the beginning of the year.
The stadium serves as the home of Premiership Rugby team Wasps and League Two football club Coventry City, and also stages music events, conferences, exhibitions and meetings.
The majority of its growth is due to the increase of conferences and meetings, with 666 bookings this year, compared to 583 last year.
Ricoh Arena has held a total of 857 events this year, compared to 777 during the previous 12 months.
Stuart Cain, group commercial director for Wasps and Ricoh Arena, said: “These figures reflect the great deal of hard work and investment that has gone into making the Ricoh Arena one of the leading events venues in the UK.
“Conferences, meetings and exhibitions are performing well for us, driven by our location next to the M6 and on-site DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. We’ve also worked hard to increase the flexibility of space within the Ericsson Exhibition Hall and wider Ricoh Arena, supported by strong Event Management and Technical Support teams that make thigs happen in spectacular fashion.”
Ricoh Arena also hosted an extra 11 exhibitions this year after attracting business from media company the Mark Allen Group, as well as other trade shows such as Mechanex and Surfex.
In addition, the venue encountered sporting success, hosting an additional 17 events in addition to 59 the year before. Stadium management said this was driven by a successful year for Wasps. The team’s fans accounted for more than 300,000 people through the turnstiles as they reached the Aviva Premiership play-off final.
The Ericsson Indoor Arena also hosted Wasps Netball for the first time, on top of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and Champion of Champions Snooker.
The Ricoh Arena also welcomed chart-topping music artists such as Robbie Williams, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Craig David.
Cain said: “Having a record year, the challenge is maintaining such a strong performance in the future so we’re investing in our facilities to keep them fresh and enhancing our digital capability.
“This includes the launch of CityFibre’s ultra-fast Wi-Fi throughout the venue and the partnership with taxi app Gett, making it easier for people to order a taxi from their phone.
“We’ve also opened the new Ricoh Business Lounge which showcases the latest in office technology creating one of the most advanced meeting spaces in Coventry.”
