Milestones for the Ricoh Arena

The multi-purpose Ricoh Arena in Coventry is preparing to celebrate a special milestone this month.

The award-winning £113 million venue, which has had over seven million visitors, will be marking its fifth anniversary on Friday, August 20.

Since Coventry City’s 3-0 win over Queens Park Rangers on August 20, 2005, there have been 2,421,360 supporters attend competitive Sky Blues matches at its new home.

The Ricoh’s versatility is highlighted by other milestone figures. Around 334,000 spectators have watched concerts in the stadium bowl ranging from Take That to Bon Jovi while over the last five years, there has been 5,465 conferences and 202 exhibitions held in its wide range of suites and exhibition halls.

Daniel Gidney, chief executive of the Ricoh Arena, said the Ricoh has become a massive national success story as well as having developed its international pedigree.

“The decision to build the Ricoh Arena was one of the best that has been taken in recent years in this area,” he said.

“The huge numbers of people that have visited the venue is testament to the high standard of our facilities and our flexibility since we have attracted international sporting matches, world-class musicians, blue-chip companies and trade exhibitions who otherwise wouldn’t have visited here.

“This has had a positive knock-on effect to the local economy not only in terms of the jobs we have created but for other industries such as local hoteliers and transport providers.

“There is absolutely no doubt that the Ricoh Arena has taken the standard of sporting, conference, exhibition and entertainment facilities to a new level within the Midlands.

“Our key sporting highlights are hosting two England under-21 internationals, an England under-19 match, three Heineken Cup matches including the 2008 semi-final which boosted the local economy by £6 million and Coventry City’s sell-out FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea.

“We were also proud to bring Take That to the Midlands which attracted 114,000 fans last summer when we also held one of the last Oasis gigs.

“The Ricoh is now established as a premier UK major convention destination since we have held multiple business events for over 2,000 delegates of blue-chip companies which have international profiles.

“We have won a number of awards over the last five years for different areas of the business and it is always fantastic to receive national recognition from your peers.

“The level of investment we have made this year underlines our commitment to continue extending our ethos of providing a world class destination for entertainment, sport and business.”

Daniel said the future for the Ricoh looked bright with the London 2012 Olympic football matches and 2015 Rugby World Cup pool games on the horizon.

“We are thrilled to be playing our part in staging two of the world’s three largest sporting occasions,” he said.

“The impact to the regional economy will be significant and on the eve of our fifth birthday there is certainly plenty to look forward to over the coming months and years.”

PICTURE CAPTION: Take That on stage at the Ricoh Arena during their Circus Circus tour in the summer of 2009

Media enquiries:
Michelle Wilson
Advent Communications
2 Edison Building
Electric Wharf
Sandy Lane
Coventry CV1 4JA
Tel: 024 7663 3636
http://www.advent-communications.co.uk