Leisure group generates £30m for Sheffield economy

Lady GaGa, Darren Brown, SIBA BeerX and The British Juggling Convention are just some of the major attractions that brought £30m to the Sheffield economy, new figures have shown.

The Sheffield City Trust (SCT) Group, which operates venues including Sheffield City Hall, the Motorpoint Arena and Ponds Forge ISC, hosted 1,500 events in 2014/15.

During this time, Sheffield was visited by 1.4 million spectators for conferences, banquets, sporting and music events, which directly generated 210,000 bed-nights in the city and achieved an economic impact of over £30m.

Other key events hosted by the trust in 2014/15 included Kasabian, The Royal Statistical Society’s Annual Conference, British Swimming’s Summer National Championships, GB Athletics British Championships and The British Universities and Colleges Sports National Championships.

Dominic Stokes, who is responsible for attracting and delivering major events for SCT, said: “It’s been a hugely successful year for events in Sheffield, demonstrated by this latest economic impact figure.

“We attract and deliver a first-class events programme, from major International conferences to exhibitions and dinners, which keeps growing annually.

“Event bookers are drawn to Sheffield because of our unique range of event spaces and venues, but also because of our high quality catering, facilities, such as extensive wifi, and our most importantly our professional, customer-focused event management team.”

Sheffield City Trust’s aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of Sheffield people by providing facilities for leisure activities.

Paul Gentry from the Royal Statistical Society, added: “SIV Events provided all the facilities we needed for our conference under one roof with overwhelmingly positive feedback received about the helpfulness and friendliness of the staff and stewards.

“SIV Events provided excellent support during the booking and planning process, and the event and catering managers at Sheffield City Hall ensured that the event ran smoothly throughout the four days.”