The Ricoh Arena Wins an Award!
National Venue Awards 2018
‘Best Sporting Venue for Events’
The Ricoh Arena has been crowned as the best sporting venue for events at a national awards ceremony ahead of the home of English football, home of English Cricket and the home of the Premier League champions.
Judges at the National Venue Awards – which attracts hundreds of events professionals from across the UK – has awarded the Coventry venue the title ahead of St George’s Park (The FA’s National Football Centre), Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Etihad Stadium.
The news comes off the back of a second consecutive record year for the number of events held at the Ricoh Arena – totalling 857 events – a ten per cent increase on the previous year.
The majority of this growth was within the conference and meetings sector, taking 666 bookings in the last financial year compared to 583 bookings in the previous year.
More than 1.6 million people have also been through the Ricoh Arena’s doors over the past year.
The venue has also undergone significant refurbishment in recent months, including a new state-of-the-art Ricoh Business Lounge for the general public to work and study in, as well as free high-speed Wi-Fi that is 270 times faster than the average UK home.
Caroline Lissaman, head of event management at the Ricoh Arena, said: “The Ricoh Arena plays a pivotal role in attracting visitors to the Coventry area via a mixture of live sport, music, conferences and exhibitions, and this award reinforces that.
“We were up against some of the biggest names in the UK and the win acts as a reminder that as well as serving the region well, we are a venue of national and international standing that is a sizeable driver for the economy in this part of the country.
“Awareness of our flexibility as a venue is spreading, and with 77 per cent of our events tracked as returning the following year, we are also benefiting from word of mouth referrals.
“We’re thrilled to have landed this award, and it is testament to the hard work that our sales and event teams put in to ensure we attract hundreds of events to Coventry year in, year out.”