Academy Music Group expands in Manchester
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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 canal-side, 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, says: “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. 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, adds: “We are delighted to have entered into a lease agreement with Academy Music Group for our large music and conference space, occupying 90,000sq.ft of the 300,000sq.ft 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 venues that are owned and operated by Academy Music Group, including London’s O2 Academy Brixton and O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
(Jim Evans)
