Member Article

Major national award for Coventry Building Society Arena

Coventry Building Society Arena has been crowned by one of the event industry’s most influential trade bodies.

The venue landed the prestigious Venue of the Year under 20,000 square metres industry prize in the AEO Excellence Awards – organised by the Association of Event Organisers (AEO).

The awards recognise the best that the events industry has to offer and Coventry Building Society Arena overcame competition from across the UK to win the honour – beating the likes of ACC Liverpool, Farnborough International and Business Design Centre.

It comes on the back of a hugely successful year for the world-class exhibition, event and conference centre since the lifting of Covid restrictions, with more than 350 large conferences and meetings, over 55 exhibitions and 10 new shows giving the Arena its most successful year yet.

The venue has also attracted major concerts and events including the MOBO Awards and world famous bands The Killers, Rammstein and The Specials.

Coventry Building Society Arena has grown to a repeat business rate of 77 per cent and welcomed more than one-and-a-half million visitors.

The success follows the announcement of a new 10-year naming rights deal with Coventry Building Society – and a major rebrand taking place across the venue. While a new sports bar, The Anecdote, also opened its doors for the first time this year and has welcomed thousands of visitors.

With the venue thriving, work continues behind-the-scenes to strengthen the Arena as a market leader in the exhibition industry. Investment is being made to expand available space at the Arena, giving organisers access to 7,750 square metres of conference and exhibition space, and also to enhance its digital capabilities.

The success of the venue has seen occupancy levels at its onsite hotel recover to pre-pandemic levels and the average room rate exceed the heights of 2019 – with the rate better than first forecast when reopening when Covid-19 restrictions allowed.

Paul Michael, Commercial Director at Coventry Building Society Arena, says the team at the venue is delighted to have been recognised by the AEO and that the award is testament to the dedication of staff at the venue over a challenging 12 months.

“We’re incredibly proud to have been named the top venue less than 20,000 square metres by the Association of Event Organisers,” said Paul.

“Coventry Building Society Arena has had a phenomenal year and we continue to go from strength-to-strength. The foundation of that success is the strength of our relationships with event organisers and that is reflected in the continued growth of our repeat business rates.

“This has been a year of significant challenges for the events industry, including Covid, staffing and recruitment. In the face of these challenges, we have delivered highly successful events ranging from intimate meetings, to exhibitions and conferences, to sporting events and music concerts.

“From operations and events, to sales and marketing, and hospitality and logistics, our teams have worked very hard to win this prestigious award and we look forward to building on this success.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .