Co-op Live secured a coup in landing the BRIT Awards for 2026 and 2027.
As reported in June, the BRITs will move out of London for the first time in its 48-year history to take place at Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday, February 28. The ceremony has been staged at the O2 Arena for 15 years.
“The reaction was phenomenal,” said Guy Dunstan, SVP & GM, Co-op Live, who joined in October. “There’s always been this view that events like the BRITs only take place in London. So to get it to come out of London for the first time in its history… and it'll be its 50th anniversary in 2027!”
Co-op Live is a joint-venture between Oak View Group, which is also the venue operator, and City Football Group. With a top capacity of 23,500, it is the UK’s biggest indoor arena with the largest standing floor space.
Despite a troubled launch for the £365 million development amid delays for the opening, the arena has since been doing brisk business – it passed a million visitors within 10 months of its May 2024 launch.
Dunstan said the BRITs deal underlines its success so far.
“We’re a brand new, state-of-the-art venue,” he told Music Week. “We’re getting rave reviews from artists playing here, it’s got world-class acoustics. But with that capacity, actually, it’s intimate because of the way it’s been designed.”
Dunstan said the BRITs move was also “great for the profile of the city”, and he praised the role of the council and Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
“We worked closely with our stakeholders to demonstrate to the BPI that we’re a city that is ready to put on the BRITs,” said Dunstan
The venue was designed with events like the BRITs in mind
Guy Dunstan
The line-up of “world-class, iconic” artists so far to perform at the venue – including Bruce Springsteen, Billie Eilish, Sam Fender, Sir Paul McCartney, Drake, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Liam Gallagher, Janet Jackson, Lionel Richie, Central Cee, Robbie Williams, Burna Boy, Nicki Minaj and more – made it an attractive move for the BRITs after so many years in London.
“When you package it all up in terms of building our reputation, and demonstrating our credentials as well, that is such an important thing that contributed to the BRITs coming,” said Dunstan. “The other key area as well is that Manchester has been a really strong city in terms of the partnership with the council, with Andy Burnham and the other stakeholders in the city. We've got other key stakeholders that helped us in terms of demonstrating that Manchester as a city, and as a destination, can host an event on the scale of the BRITs, with all the accommodation, and with all the other support infrastructure needed. It is really well connected with the airport and the transport network.”
There’s also been a palpable buzz in the city following the BRITs announcement.
“I went to a networking event with a lot of Manchester-based businesses, and they are all so positive and excited that we're bringing the BRITs into Manchester,” said Dunstan. “Because as well as the economic benefits, it's also great for the profile of the city, and demonstrates that we're a destination that can put on the biggest and best events.”
Dunstan said that the decision by organisers the BPI to confirm that the BRITs will be in Manchester for at least two years is another positive aspect of the deal.
“It’s a massive benefit that they were willing to commit for two years,” said Dunstan.
The BPI oversees the ceremony, which will be under the stewardship of Sony Music UK this year. It will again air exclusively on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.
At the time of the announcement, BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist said the “groundbreaking move to Manchester will only add to its rich legacy”.
“This exciting new chapter celebrates not only the city’s exceptional musical heritage and its status as a powerhouse of British creativity, but the great depth of artistic energy and potential that exists all across the UK,” she said.
With Oasis making a huge impact this summer – and No.1 again on the albums chart thanks to the streaming impact from the tour – there’s every possibility that the city’s heritage will be reflected on the night.
“Manchester's got an amazing music heritage,” said Dunstan, who noted the run of huge Oasis shows in Heaton Park. “I think with the music heritage in the city, I'm sure there will be opportunities to celebrate that in the [BRITs] show. But I'm not the producer, so I'll leave that to them – I won't tell them how to produce!”
Even before the venue was built, there was reporting that Oak View Group had targeted the BRITs as a key event for Co-op Live.
“There's been an aspiration, and the venue was designed with events like the BRITs in mind in terms of being able to accommodate events of that nature,” said Dunstan. “So when, when we first started talking to them and showing them around the site, the floor space we're able to offer and all the facilities, we were able to demonstrate that we've been thinking about them when we were designing the venue.
“And it's not just about music – sport, comedy, family entertainment are all part of the programme as well. So we're a very versatile venue – we've done so many boxing events as an example over the last 12 months. It has been great to see the boxing promoters view us as their premier venue now as well in the UK.”
Iconic, world-famous artists are saying that it was just such an amazing venue to play
Guy Dunstan
Dunstan joined in October in time to witness another major televised awards show – the MTV EMAs at Co-op Live the following month.
“I walked around that night and looked at how we delivered that event with a huge amount of infrastructure inside the venue, but also outside the venue as well, to put an event on that scale,” he said. “At that moment, I thought, okay, we can deliver anything here, because we've just delivered such an amazing event.
“It was about having a real confidence that we were established, and we were demonstrating to the industry that we were established, and we could deliver those sort of events. When we were talking to the BPI about the BRITs, we're able to use that as a case study in terms of demonstrating what we can do and what we can deliver so well.”
With the BRITs heading to Manchester, the Co-op Live boss is confident it will be an amazing global showcase for the venue less than two years from its launch.
“Every event is a showcase opportunity for us, and there's no bigger event in the music industry in the UK than the BRITs,” he said. “So that will just be another great way to demonstrate all the qualities we've got here.”
Artists including Bruce Springsteen and Snow Patrol have praised the venue following their performances.
“When we have all of these iconic, world-famous artists coming here and they're coming off stage and saying, ‘That was just such an amazing venue to play, the acoustics are the best I've played’, it's not us asking them or telling them to say it,” said Dunstan. “They're coming off and immediately, that's what they're feeding back. These are artists that play all the top venues all around the world, and for them to say something like that when they're on stage here just demonstrates that we're delivering what we're saying.”
PHOTO: (L-R) Dr Jo Twist OBE (BPI CEO), Bev Craig (Leader of Manchester City Council), Jason Iley MBE (Chairman and CEO, Sony Music UK & Ireland), Jessica Koravos (President, Oak View Group International), Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester), Roel de Vries (Group Chief Operating Officer, City Football Group & Executive Board Member, Co-op Live), YolanDa Brown OBE DL (BPI chair), Guy Dunstan (Senior Vice President & General Manager, Co-op Live)
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