Wimbledon organiser secures £15.6m loan as coronavirus cancels events

The London events company behind Wimbledon has announced that it has received a £15.6m support loan due to the effects of coronavirus.

Arena Events Group, which designs and delivers live events such as the Olympics and the Ryder Cup, has received the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan (CBILS) from HSBC UK.

This comes after the majority of large events were cancelled last year due to the spread of coronavirus.

Greg Lawless, CEO of Arena Group, commented: “We were all set to deliver temporary facilities for the Tokyo Olympics, the Ryder Cup in the US in addition to our regular recurring work with many of the UK’s premier sporting events last year, so needless to say 2020 wasn’t the year that the business expected, as the Olympics and countless other national and global events were cancelled or postponed.

“However, we moved quickly to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 by reducing our operational cost base, and focusing our attention on non-event sources of income.

“We couldn’t have done this without the support of HSBC UK, and their backing has gone a long way in helping us navigate this unpredictable pandemic.”

Liz Anderton, HSBC UK West End corporate banking director, said: “The events industry has undoubtably been one of the sectors to be hardest hit by the pandemic, so we’re pleased to have been able to support Arena Events Group as the company continues to make significant shifts in its day-to-day operations to help it through this period of uncertainty.”