CN looks at the resurgence in the Black Country that is seeing a former industrial heartland now powering up for big events.
Did you know Wolverhampton has the kudos of being home to the first ministerial office outside of Westminster, with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government moving to the eye-catching i9 building, at the heart of Wolverhampton’s emerging commercial district, in 2021?
The city is steeped in history. Home to the very first traffic lights and one of the world’s oldest professional football teams, Wolverhampton also played a key part in pioneering the heavy metal scene.
Wolverhampton sits in the heart of the Black Country, to the north-west of Birmingham and enjoys similar excellent transport links. Wolverhampton’s award-winning £150m Interchange of train, tram and bus, even has one of the city’s historic venues capable of hosting over 1,000 delegates, right next to it: Grand Station.
Once you arrive, the city is extremely walkable and the majority of conference venues across Wolverhampton are within walking distance from the train station/interchange. It’s also possible to travel to Birmingham Airport via train in just under 45 minutes.
AEG Presents – part of the AEG global sports, entertainment and venue operator family – beat off strong competition to secure a long-term deal to operate Wolverhampton’s Civic Halls on a 25-year lease. The iconic city centre venue reopened as the University of Wolverhampton at The Halls in May 2023 following a major multi-million-pound refurbishment programme and is again hosting leading musical and entertainment acts like Bob Dylan, Blur and Penn & Teller, as well as being an ideal host for a range of consumer, corporate, award ceremonies and trade events. The venue offers over 1,000 sqm of flexible floor space across the Civic and Wulfrun Halls, plus a range of breakout spaces of varying sizes.
Putting some drama into the delegate experience is the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, which has capacity for 1,200 for conferences and presentations.
Wolverhampton Art Gallery is another venue offering a historic and cultural location for events, corporate meetings, away days, training and functions.
Designed by Julius Chatwin and built in 1884 with Bath stone to house the city’s art collection, the Grade II-listed gallery now boasts a variety of classic and contemporary art featuring the largest pop art collection outside London.
The building offers some impressive and affordable spaces. The refurbished Georgian Gallery can host up to 100 delegates.
Also, in the heart of the city centre is The Grand Palace, a Grade II* listed building with a capacity to host up to 650 guests in its main space, along with an additional 170 in the second suite. Able to host a variety of events, the venue excels at banquets.
A city institution and key venue is Molineux, home of Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. It’s unusual for a football club to be so close to a city centre. The stadium, as well as being a heritage site of this grand old club which has seen many famous players run out in the old gold shirt, is also a treasure trove of event spaces, with its All Bar One space offering uninterrupted views of the pitch.
Staying with the sporting venue theme, and Wolverhampton Racecourse is only 10 minutes from the M54 and has 1,500 free car parking spaces. It is also setting the pace for events with suites and halls for hire, and like most racecourses offers expansive loading areas, ideal for exhibitions, as well as staging conferences and product launches. Its largest suite on the ground floor is particularly popular and offers 600sqm of pillar-free space that can hold up to 600 delegates.
There is a Holiday Inn on site and a four-star option nearby as you head towards the Shropshire Hills, The Mount Hotel Country Manor. Wolverhampton, proud of its city heritage, is also a close neighbour to some stunning countryside.
Other key indoor entertainment venues include the council-run Bilston Town Hall (1,000) and the 700-capacity Robin 2. And the city’s much-loved Victorian West Park plays host to many major events. The council is encouraging many other new facilities to come on stream, among them a new four-screen independent cinema at the historic Chubb Building.
Landmark events
The City of Wolverhampton’s portfolio of landmark events over the last two years includes the start and finish of the Commonwealth Games road cycling time trials, the prestigious British Art Show 9, and the city also became the first in the UK to host the FISE Xperience urban sports tour.
Wolverhampton has a history of spawning star talent, including pop icons Slade, Beverley Knight, the late Liam Payne and Kevin Rowland, along with sports greats ranging from cyclist Hugh Porter to gold medal-winning javelin star Tessa Sanderson and ex international footballer Steve Bull.
While rightly proud of its star and industrial heritage, Wolverhampton is now very much focused on the future, and the City Council has a plan that not only involves Wolverhampton hosting more major national and international events but being able to do so with a much-improved infrastructure of facilities such as venues and hotels.
Aside from the investment in the University of Wolverhampton at The Halls , the city has secured over £100m of key visitor economy infrastructure projects, including the transport Interchange connecting visitors to the city better than ever before, and major public realm works creating more events spaces and an improved environment for all.
The city is also hosting the semis and final of the Kabaddi World Cup which is coming to the West Midlands in March 2025.
Councillor Chris Burden, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs and Skills, explains the council has been investing heavily in the assets in the city, most significantly The University of Wolverhampton at The Halls.
“The refurbishment means that the venue is being used more extensively for daytime conference and exhibition activity, which it struggled to do in the past. It is an integral part of Wolverhampton’s entertainment and music heritage and an important part of our visitor economy, making it a keystone of the council’s wider plans to reimagine the city centre, create local jobs and grow vital local businesses.”
New destination management and nighttime economy strategies are also being developed by the council to further boost visitor numbers and the economic and social benefits that brings.
The citywide investment programme goes beyond events: Living schemes such as Canalside South, City Centre West, St George’s, The Royal Quarter and Sunbeam are all regenerating neglected brownfield sites and there are plans to build more than 6,500 new homes, part of £2.6bn worth of investment and set to deliver 4,000 jobs and supply chain opportunities.
Visitor economy
A study by independent tourism research body Global Tourism Solutions and West Midlands Growth Company, in 2023, put the Wolverhampton’s visitor economy as worth £458m, up 12.8% from the previous year.
The report showed Wolverhampton attracted more than 10m visitors in 2023, an increase on 2022’s 9.8m; and the numbers of full-time equivalent jobs supported by direct and indirect tourism activities rose by 5.6%.
Councillor Burden, again: “Giving visitors reasons to stay longer and support local businesses is a priority for the council, backed by our exciting and broad culture and events programme.”
He added: “Creating an exciting place that works in the round is important to the city’s future and the meetings and events sector offers us great potential for growth in terms of jobs and investment.
“The city also has a great heritage and culture and our city venues mirror that – it’s what makes Wolverhampton special and unique.
“As we continue to deliver our five-year events strategy, it genuinely feels that the city’s offer now is a competitive one, a very attractive one and we are going to continue to invest in a way that makes sense for Wolverhampton. We’re very ambitious, we know we’re not a Birmingham or a Manchester, but we can be very, very exciting nonetheless in a slightly different space.”
For more information and enquire about Wolverhampton’s portfolio of venues, click the links below.
- Art Gallery
- Bantock House
- Grand Station
- Grand Theatre
- Molineux Stadium
- The Grand Palace
- The Mount Country Manor Hotel & Golf
- Wolverhampton Racecourse
- University of Wolverhampton at The Halls
Birmingham & West Midlands Convention Bureau
For more information on how you can deliver events in the region, contact Birmingham & West Midlands convention Bureau at:
meetbirmingham.com
bcb.conferencesales@wmgrowth.com
+44 (0)121 202 5100
