THE RICOH Arena has announced plans to expand its indoor exhibition space after hosting a record year of events.
Last year, over 650 exhibitions and events were held at the Coventry venue – a 23 per cent year-on-year increase.
As a result, to develop exhibitions and events at the venue further, a link is being created between the 6,000 sqm Jaguar Exhibition Hall down to Hall Three – giving organisers and visitors easy access to an additional 1,500 sqm of exhibition space.
Midlands construction firm Ideal Group have been appointed to carry out the work which began towards the end of June and is expected to be completed by the end of August.
The Executive Hire Show is expected to be one of the first exhibitions to utilise the whole event space in its new format.
Andy Gibb, managing director at the Ricoh Arena, said: “While this may seem a small modification to the venue, we think access to more space will make a big difference to organisers whose events are growing every year.
“Organisers love the fact they can transform the current event space into what they want with very little restriction.
“Combining this liberal approach with even more event space in a central UK location makes the Ricoh Arena an unrivalled destination for events and exhibitions.
“The number of exhibitions and events hosted at the Ricoh Arena over the past year has really shown the true flexibility that the venue has to offer.
“We’re also looking to attract new events and exhibitions to help build on this strong performance, and linking these two spaces within the venue will help us to achieve that.”
Barry Butterworth, development manager at the Ricoh Arena, is working alongside Ideal Group to oversee the project.
He added: “Since the venue opened 11 years ago, Hall Three hasn’t been directly accessible from the Jaguar Exhibition Hall – but now this is changing it will make a big difference to what we can offer event organisers.
“Ease of access between the two spaces means that Hall Three could be used for more stands, for conferences or seminars or feature areas.”
