Record revenue for ACC Liverpool as economic impact passes £1.4bn

The ACC Liverpool Group has pulled in its highest annual turnover to date.

The company achieved sales of £25.8m in the 12 months to March 31 2017, up 50% against the £17.2m reported the year previous.

ACC Liverpool, which launched in 2008, is home to the Echo Arena, BT Convention Centre, Exhibition Centre Liverpool, Pullman Liverpool hotel and ticketing agency TicketQuarter

The year saw 258 events take place across the group, attracting over 660k visitors and delegates.

An estimated £204m in economic benefit was generated for the Liverpool city region, bringing the group’s overall economic impact to more than £1.4bn.

Among the highlights in ACC Liverpool’s event calendar were the Labour Party conference and international congresses such as the European Association for International Education.

Entertainment events included performances by pop legend Sir Elton John and girl band Little Mix.

The ACC Liverpool Group said its latest results show an improved trading profit position, although it recorded an operating loss of £582k after adjusting for the impact of the latest valuation of its company pension scheme.

Chief executive Bob Prattey said: “The financial year 2016/17 was a year of rapid expansion for The ACC Liverpool Group.

“This was in part due to the first full year of trading for Pullman Liverpool and Exhibition Centre Liverpool, coupled with strong performance and growth in our existing markets, which has been made possible due to the additional space available with the completion of Exhibition Centre Liverpool.”

He continued: “We are forecasting a further increase in revenues as we continue to expand our business and host major events.

“The operating loss of £582k we are reporting for 2016/17 masks an improved underlying trading performance and we expect this to continue to improve during the current year 2017/18.”

Recent developments at the complex include the launch of The Liverpool Collection Lounge and a new live events space at the Exhibition Centre.

Speaking further, Bob Prattey commented: “2018 is a significant year for us as we celebrate a decade since we opened the doors to our arena and convention centre.

“We are hosting some fantastic events throughout the year to celebrate this milestone - kicking off with Sgt Pepper: Live on January 13. Alongside this, 2018 will be another busy year of national and international conferences; public and trade exhibitions and entertainment events.”

He added: “As a result, we’ll continue to welcome increasing numbers of visitors to our campus and add to the more than £1.4bn in economic impact we’ve generated for the city region since 2008.”