Exhibitions venue set for record year after agreeing 18 new deals
Coventry’s Ricoh Arena is set for a record year in terms of events after concluding agreements for 18 new 18 exhibitions across a range of industry sectors.
New exhibitions for 2017 include the Temperature Controlled Storage & Distribution Exhibition, the automotive trade show Mechanex and Surfex.
The performance puts the multi-purpose venue, which has 7,500 sqm of conference and exhibition space, on course to beat it previous record of 777 events, achieved in 2015/16.
Andy Gibb, managing director at the Ricoh Arena, said: “We’ve secured a fantastic variety of exhibitions that are either in their infancy or are big, well established shows.
“That’s really important for us because it shows our venue can act as an incubator for events to grow, but equally, we compete for and deliver on large scale events too.
“Our sales and events teams overcame strong competition from other venues to host some of these exhibitions and have done a fantastic job in securing them. We are averaging 58 exhibitions a year, which is excellent news for us and for the regional economy.”
To secure the exhibitions, the arena has invested in improvements to the facility and recently created a link between its exhibition hall and hall three to provide an extra 1,500 sqm of space which has helped to attract larger events.
“Our location is perfect for event organisers, with 75% of the UK’s population within a two-hour drive and when you add our refurbished facilities including the restaurants, bars and onsite DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, we have a really strong proposition,” he added.
Mr Gibb said the venue was hoping to announce further shows over the coming months.
