The Co-op Live arena under construction in Manchester, England will be “the best arena in the whole of Europe by a long, long way,” the city’s night time economy adviser has said.
Speaking at the city’s Annual Hotel Conference (AHC) today (11 September), Sacha Lord told delegates the venue would be “the biggest game changer for the city in many years... they’re line ups like we’ve never had before”.
The £365 million, 23,500-capacity arena will have 32 bars, restaurants and lounges when it opens in April 2024. City Football Group and Oak View Group are equal joint venture partners and investors in Co-op Live along with Harry Styles as an investor.
Lord said the developers were providing “an example of how to do it”.
“The stadium itself is being built for the customer... rather than building the seating outwards, they’re building it upwards, which will give it a real atmosphere,” he said.
“They’ve engaged with everybody, they want to make sure that X percentage of jobs go to Manchester locals, they’ve engaged with local councillors, local charities.”
He said he had observed the “demand is there”, with people choosing to go out less but “the concerts and festivals are the busiest they’ve ever been, people are waiting for that one big moment,” he explained.
Also co-founder of the Warehouse Project and Parklife, Lord’s music ventures bring a combined annual £20.9 million into Greater Manchester’s economy and each year, Parklife raises over £100,000 for the Parklife Community Foundation, which is distributed to local causes.
Lord has famously campaigned on behalf of the night time economy both regionally and nationally, including as chair of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA).
Lord took the UK Government to the High Court over the ’substantial meal’ rule for hospitality customers during the Covid pandemic and won. Judges ruled the measure was arguably discriminatory towards certain sections of society and the requirement was dropped as a result. Lord said he had the ruling framed in his home.
His role as night time economy advisor is neither salaried, nor contracted, which he said was important, “because if you’re a salaried, you have to sit on your hands and you can’t necessarily give the best advice. What’s the point in having an advisor if you can’t necessarily give the best advice?”
“I think it’s helped that I have this background – I’m an operator... I’ve dealt with the issues the whole way through my career,” he added.
He pointed out that, when visitors come to the city to attend events and nightclubs, they will also book hotel rooms, taxis, buy outfits and go to local restaurants and bars, supporting the local economy. “It’s trying to get the sector to understand that,” he said.
“It is important that both [private and public] sectors work with each other... I think we do a very good job around here. I see other cities where our sector is put to the back of the queue.”
Manchester was named the night-time capital of the UK earlier this year by The Sunday Times and Lord highlighted that the city was benefitted from London becoming too expensive.
“We’re seeing more and more conferences come to Manchester, more tours... It feels like we’re having a real moment, it’s an exciting time,” he said.