Co-op Live: Manchester venue boss withdraws after shows postponed

The general manager of Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena has resigned.

The venue, which will be the largest in the UK, held its first test event on Saturday but had to cancel some tickets just hours beforehand.

It also postponed its opening shows, featuring comedian Peter Kay, as it was not ready, with the comic originally due to perform on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A spokesperson confirmed: “Gary Roden has decided to withdraw.”

He continued: “We’d like to thank Gary for his help bringing the UK’s newest arena to live entertainment fans and wish him the best for the future.

“Rebecca Kane Burton has been named interim general manager, effective today.

“Rebecca is a seasoned veteran of venue management and live entertainment in the UK.”

Kay was due to perform the first official events at the arena but it said work on its power supply was “a few days behind” schedule.

The comic’s performances were rescheduled for April 29 and 30.

The venue, which will hold up to 23,500 people when fully open, apologised.

Kay also said at the time: “I’m truly gutted as I know how disappointing this will be for everyone with tickets – but obviously, it’s a brand-new venue and it’s important that everything is finished and safe for full capacity audiences.

“Fortunately, we’ve been able to reschedule the shows to next week.”

US rock band The Black Keys were still due to play the arena on April 27, before Kay’s rescheduled dates.

The venue said that gig would have a 10,000-capacity and managers would use it to “continue to test the resilience of the venue and its operations”.

Ahead of its opening shows, Mr Roden told the BBC he acknowledged the financial pressures facing small venues but added some were poorly run and there was no robust system to decide who would get the subsidy.

He said the new arena would give £1m a year to the Co-op Foundation charity, which helps a range of causes, and would work with smaller venues on projects like training.