With just four days until the scheduled opening, Co-op Live in Manchester was a hive of activity, with contractors working feverishly to complete the new 23,500-capacity arena. But behind the scenes, a desperate scramble was underway to get things ready. Twenty-four hours before the grand opening, the wheels began to come off. Sources raised concerns that the venue would not be ready for Peter Kay’s public opening on Tuesday. The building had not been signed off by the council, and emergency services had expressed safety concerns. On Sunday night, Co-op Live faced a frantic 48 hours to prepare for the Bolton comic’s show.
By 11am, reports emerged that the performance was about to be postponed. Confirmation followed, with power supply issues blamed for the decision. A wave of disappointment swept over Peter Kay fans who had already made arrangements and spent considerable sums of money.
A Co-op Live spokesperson said: “As we said in our statement earlier, the ambition and scale of this venue is enormous, including across our innovative technical infrastructure. It is critical to ensure we have a consistent total power supply to our fully electric sustainable venue, the completion of which is a few days behind.”
“Rescheduling gives us the extra time we need to continue testing thoroughly. Today’s decision was deeply regrettable, but is just one change to a busy upcoming opening season which includes Olivia Rodrigo, The Eagles, Liam Gallagher and Peter Kay as our grand opening act.”
“We are continuing to work very closely with multiple stakeholders and responsible authorities to deliver against the rigorous set of guidelines and protocols necessary for opening a venue of this size. We were pleased to confirm earlier today that we will still be hosting The Black Keys on April 27 in the lower bowl with 10,000 fans as planned and will continue to test the resilience of the venue and its operations.”
The postponement was the second PR blow in a matter of days for the venue. On Saturday, emails were sent to ticket holders for the test event informing them that they were no longer invited. Thousands of guests, including VIPs, were left fuming. Some expressed their disgust in messages to journalists, and one luxury company boss was reportedly turned away at the door after traveling from London for the occasion.
Meanwhile, workers complained after allegedly being told they would not be allowed into the test event either. Morale among workers was said to be at an all-time low, with some walking off site due to the pressure.
Co-op Live says both the decisions to reduce capacity on Saturday and postpone Peter Kay’s show follow an issue with power supply. A contractor involved in the project told the M.E.N: “They knew it wasn’t going to be ready. It’s the sparks that are really behind. Only 20 per cent of the cables are in.”
“The job was behind from the very beginning. They’ve just been getting it done very slow. It’s not going to be completed for months. We’re not talking about next weekend. We’re talking a long time.”
The scramble to finish the venue was also evident to guests who attended Saturday’s test show. Parts of the building were out of bounds, and as soon as civic dignitaries left, construction workers were back at work, drilling boards on the floors.
Images from inside Co-op Live on Saturday shared on TikTok showed cables left around areas of the floor, taped to a wall and dangling from the ceiling. Around 10,000 people are expected to attend The Black Keys concert on Saturday, less than half the venue’s capacity.
A source close to the project insisted the venue “would never open doors” if it was deemed unsafe. However, emergency services had concerns prior to Saturday’s test event, including the ability for emergency services to communicate with one another in a crisis, as well as fire safety. These concerns were discussed in a Greater Manchester fire board meeting on Monday.
Meanwhile, the fire service has expressed support for the decision to postpone the Peter Kay show. Fire marshals were used during Saturday’s test event, and a fire service source said: “The decision to close was to do with the ability to ‘manage’ a capacity crowd. Not clear if the systems are not in place or it is to do with the unfinished state of it. We viewed it a week ago and it looked like there was six months’ work to do.”
At the same time, council figures met with Co-op Live to review progress at the site. Council sources said there was no pressure on Co-op Live to push its opening back, but concerns remain around unfinished work.
A completion certificate has yet to be issued by Manchester City Council’s building control team. The venue could have opened without one with “mitigations” in place, which Co-op Live has not disclosed publicly.
Concerns have also been raised about inadequate toilet facilities. One guest who attended Saturday’s test event claimed there were only two working toilet blocks, and a contractor described how portable toilets had been used backstage.
A worker said: “There’s no water in the toilets… there’s one toilet that’s working, but not the rest of them.” They added: “I wouldn’t be having shows there for a while.”
A Co-op Live spokesman said: “As our venue is 100 per cent electric, we need to ensure our technical infrastructure is working at full capacity. This means on Saturday some of the facilities were impacted and temporary measures were installed to ensure adequate measures were in place.”
Following the decision to postpone the Peter Kay show, a Manchester City Council spokesman said: “We respect the decision by Co-op Live to rearrange their first public events at the new arena. Although no doubt disappointing for both the venue and those who were attending the first shows this week, it is the right decision if they feel the venue is not ready to welcome visitors and their systems aren’t fully tested.”
“The council will continue to work closely with the venue as they push to complete the arena and prepare to host their first official shows.”
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service added: “We support Co-op Live in taking this difficult decision and will continue to work closely with the venue, Manchester City Council, and emergency service partners as preparations are made for the first public events.”
