Industry Press / 08.30.18
Academy Music Group Expands Venue Portfolio in Manchester
LONDON (30 August 2018) - Academy Music Group Limited (AMG) has announced a new lease agreement with Manchester-based live entertainment venue, Victoria Warehouse.
Situated in the heart of the city, the venue was originally the Liverpool Warehousing Company, two huge warehouses built in 1925 and 1936. Their monumental scale and exuberant architectural style dominated the canalside, and Victoria Warehouse is now one of the only surviving warehouses of its kind; retaining its classic internal structure of cast-iron columns, supporting wooden beams and joists.
Victoria Warehouse was renovated in 2009 to become a premier events and hospitality venue, with multiple rooms, formats and configurations. The main auditorium capacity is 3,500.
Graham Walters, Chief Operating Officer, Academy Music Group said: “Manchester’s warehouses are so important to the history of the city. They give Manchester its local distinctiveness, identity and character. Iconic venues are the life-blood of what we do, and we have significant expertise in running some of the most historically important entertainment venues in the world. We are delighted to welcome this stunning venue in a prime city to our Group; especially as Manchester is such an integral part of the UK’s live music scene.”
Academy Music Group, whose shareholders include Live Nation Entertainment, has had a long-standing partnership agreement with O2 since January 2009. This strategic naming-rights venue deal sees customers take advantage of exclusive benefits. As part of the deal, Victoria Warehouse, will be rebranded O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester from 01 September 2018*.
Gareth Griffiths, Head of Sponsorship, O2, says: “The new O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester is a brilliant addition to our O2 Academy estate and further demonstrates O2 and Academy Music Group’s commitment to live music in Manchester. This expands Priority Tickets for O2 customers 48 hours before general release and we can’t wait for more late nights in this fantastic city of musical heritage!”
James Cohen, the property owner, added: “We are delighted to have entered into a lease agreement with Academy Music Group for our large music and conference space, occupying 90,000 square feet of the 300,000 square foot building. It’s a fantastic move for our site to add both live music and club shows by partnering with AMG. The VW Group will continue to deliver all corporate event business and to place music shows at the venue, thus working hand-in-hand to drive profitability. This deal is testament to our vision to create one of the most iconic events and hire spaces in Manchester.”
O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester adds to the existing UK portfolio of now 19 award-winning venues that are owned and operated by Academy Music Group, including London’s iconic O2 Academy Brixton and O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
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*The agreement does not include the Victoria Warehouse Hotel or vintage cinema.
Academy Music Group Press Office:
Louise Kovacs
Academy Music Group
+44 (20)7 787 3128
louise@academy-music-group.co.uk
O2 Press Office
+44 (0) 1753 565656
pressoffice@o2.com
Notes to Editors:
Academy Music Group
Academy Music Group (AMG), whose shareholders include LN-Gaiety Holdings Ltd, SJM Concerts and Metropolis Music, is the UK’s leading owner and operator of multi-award winning, nationwide live music, club and entertainment venues. For more information, visit www.academy-music-group.co.uk.
Academy Music Group venues include: O2 Academy Brixton, London (4,921), O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London (2,000), O2 Forum Kentish Town, London (2,300), O2 Academy Islington, London (800), O2 Academy Birmingham (3,009), O2 Institute Birmingham (1,500), O2 Academy Bristol (1,600 – 1,800 clubs), O2 Academy Bournemouth (1,875), O2 Academy Glasgow (2,550), O2 ABC Glasgow (1,362), O2 Academy Leeds (2,300), O2 Academy Leicester (1,600) , Arts Club, Liverpool (500/1,250 full building), O2 Academy Liverpool (1,200), O2 Ritz Manchester (1,500), O2 Academy Newcastle (2,000), O2 Academy Oxford (1,020), O2 Academy Sheffield (2,350) and as of 01 September 2018, O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester (3,500).
Live Nation Entertainment venues include: Motorpoint Arena Cardiff (4,994-7,500), O2 Apollo Manchester (3,500), O2 Guildhall Southampton (1,749).
Live Nation Entertainment
Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com.
O2
O2 is a mobile network operator and the principal commercial brand of Telefónica UK Limited, which is part of the global telecommunications group Telefónica S.A, headquartered in Spain and operating in Europe, and North, Central and South America.
O2 was awarded Best Network Coverage in 2018 by uSwitch and with over 32 million connections to the network, it runs 2G, 3G and 4G services across the UK, as well as operating its nationwide O2 Wifi service.
The company is the network of choice for mobile virtual network operators such as giffgaff, Sky Mobile and Lyca Mobile as well as managing a 50:50 joint venture with Tesco for Tesco Mobile.
O2 has around 6,700 employees and over 450 retail stores and sponsors England Rugby, The O2 and 19 O2 Academy music venues across the UK. Through a comprehensive sustainability strategy O2 is also creating work experience opportunities for 16-24 year olds via its GoThinkBig platform, enabling customers to reduce their impact on the environment by recycling their old devices through O2 Recycle and, in partnership with the NSPCC, helping parents to keep their children safe online.
O2 is the only mobile operator in the 2018 Social Mobility Employer Index and was named as one of the best places to work in the 2018 Glassdoor Employee’s Choice Award.
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