Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak believes Co-op Live arena will ‘transform’ Manchester life

After a few hiccups at the start, Manchester’s Co-op Live is up and running. Several gigs have taken place now, with comedian Peter Kay and rapper Nicki Minaj both playing two nights. 

The arena has been a concept years in the making, and one of the significant players in construction of the venue is City Football Group - also owners of Manchester City. Co-op Live is located right next to the Etihad Stadium, and the two venues are set for a close-knit relationship. 

In his annual end of season review, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak touched on the development of Co-op Live and its input on the Manchester entertainment scene. He described Co-op Live as a “superb opportunity”. 

Mr Al Mubarak said: “It's part of that strategy of investing in Manchester, you know, from continuing to invest in that entire ecosystem around the Etihad, from the CFA, to Manchester life, to now the Co-op, the expansion of the Etihad Stadium, that entire entertainment district that we're developing, we continue to reinvest. What that does, we’re creating value for the group. We're creating jobs for the community. We're creating profit because these are all very successful initiatives and investments.

“The Co-op is, I think, a superb opportunity in which we saw, a very clear demand for live entertainment in Manchester and in England. We found a great partner. We invested in building, arguably, the best arena in the whole of Europe. State-of-the-art infrastructure, it's going to transform life in Manchester by providing an arena with constant entertainment at the highest quality of excellence in terms of delivery for our customers, our clients, our visitors to the arena.” 

A lot has been said about Co-op Live’s new ways of creating a memorable experience. Mr Al Mubarak believes that the multi-million pound arena will be beneficial to Manchester and beyond. 

He added: “You go there and it's an absolute game changer in terms of the technology used, in terms of the sound systems that are there, in terms of the entertainment, the facilities within the arena, an absolute game-changer for Manchester and for the entire region and frankly for England and Europe.”