O2 rebrand for Victoria Warehouse
MANCHESTER music venue Victoria Warehouse is set to be re-named as a new operator moves in next month.
The live entertainment space, in Stretford, will soon be known as the O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester as part of a new licence agreement.
Academy Music Group, whose shareholders include Live Nation Entertainment, will run the main 3,500-capacity auditorium space, and sources say they are already planning to pull in ‘big international acts.’
The group currently run 19 venues across the UK, including London’s O2 Academy in Brixton and O2 Ritz Manchester on Whitworth Street West.
Bands such as the Courteeners and Twenty One Pilots currently grace their other venues.
Victoria Warehouse took on its new guise on Saturday as part of Academy group’s partnership agreement with O2, which started in 2009.
Te re-naming will give customers of the phone network access to priority ticketing along with other perks such as drink deals.
The change will only be on a lease basis as property owner James Cohen continues to run the adjoining Victoria Warehouse Hotel and cinema.
He said: “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.
“This deal is testament to our vision to create one of the most iconic events and hire spaces in Manchester.”
Originally part of the Liverpool Warehousing Company, the two huge warehouses were renovated in 2009 to become a prime events venue.