Leeds sports venues go for goal

Emerald Headingley Stadium, the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) and Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletics (LCF&A) recently unveiled its transformation following a two-year renovation programme
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The £45m refurbishment of one of Leeds’ sporting stadia is already proving a sound investment, with a huge influx of bookings for conferences, events and celebrations.

Emerald Headingley Stadium, the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) and Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletics (LCF&A) recently unveiled its transformation following a two-year renovation programme.

And global services company, Sodexo, which runs the hospitality and the public catering at the stadium, reported that advance bookings for events at the new look Headingley have already exceeded expectations.

The new Emerald suite, which can take up to 500 people, has views of both the cricket and rugby pitches, while for the first time the stadium is also able to offer outside terraces suitable for barbeques, hog roasts or summer networking events.

The two terraces, which hold 30 and 100 guests, are just some of the latest additions, with the venue also now able to host large scale exhibitions for the first time.

Corporate boxes have had a complete refresh and the Directors Suite is also proving extremely popular, thanks to the stylish new make-over.

The first company to hold an event at the Emerald Suite was Boston Spa-based Deans Computer Services PLC, which chose the venue for its annual conference to showcase its products and services.                                                                                                                         

The multi-million-pound company held a day of exhibitions and presentations, attended by dozens of companies working in the IT field.

Suzie Cowling, Marketing Director at the company, was full of praise for the stadium.

She said: “We booked the space even before it was finished because we were so excited by the way it looked – and the reality was even better.

“The feedback we’ve had from the people who attended has been really positive, it’s an amazing space that’s been created.

“We hold this event in a different venue every year – and it always has to be somewhere which has a story to tell – and we really feel this was the best one yet.

“The view is amazing; the catering was fantastic and the staff simply couldn’t do enough for us. It really is something special.”

Kelly Knowles, Head of Business Development at Emerald Headingley Stadium said the response to date had been overwhelming.

She said: “It’s been fantastic not just to welcome old clients who have been very patient in the last two years but to see the amount of interest from new clients who have been wowed by what we have here.

“All the team are very proud to be selling such a fantastic new product and it is certainly being incredibly well received.

“There has been a gap in the market in this area for a venue of this size and with these facilities and the fact that we will also have the Long Room which will be undergoing a refurbishment early next year, will make the offer event stronger.”

The additional spaces have also given the stadium the opportunity to tap into new markets.

“We are currently putting together packages for multi-cultural events as we’ve had a number of approaches,” said Kelly.

“And we are also going to be holding our first concert, a Proms on the Pitch event on 21 September with Lesley Garrett.

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