Yahoo News Mike Ashley owned CBS Arena shows significant losses in latest accounts since takeover
The Coventry Building Society Arena – the home of Coventry City – lost more than £4m in the first six months after being acquired by Mike Ashley, according to the stadium’s latest set of accounts. The billionaire retail tycoon’s Frasers Group took over the venue at the end of 2022 for £17m after the companies that ran the venue went into administration.
Former Newcastle United owner and Sports Direct founder Ashley beat Sky Blues’ owner Doug King – who made a £25m bid – to the purchase of the Arena after a court decided that his bid came too late. At the time, administrator Andrew Sheridan from FRP Advisory said the deal was “a pleasing outcome” and that it would help to secure up to 1,000 jobs in Coventry.
Now, newly-filed accounts with Companies House for the firm that has been running the arena since the takeover show that it lost more than £4m between November 2022 and April 30, 2023, reports CITY.A.M.
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The article says that the accounts also reveal that the Coventry Building Society Arena made a turnover of £4.3m during the same period. The firm’s accounts for the 12 months to April 30, 2024, are not due to be filed with Companies House until January 31, 2025.
The Coventry Building Society Arena was previously run by Arena Coventry Limited, Arena Coventry (2006) Limited and IEC Experience Limited. Collapsed Premiership rugby club Wasps and the previous operating companies running the Coventry Building Society Arena owed over £21m when they went into administration.
The venue, which was formally known as the Ricoh Arena, includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to Coventry City along with a 6,500 sq ft exhibition hall, a hotel and a casino.
In an interview with CoventryLive in November 2023, the arena’s boss Paul Michael said the venue had “set the foundations for success” and had hosted around 750 events including back-to-back sell-out stadium bowl performances from Harry Styles.
The arena also announced in January 2024 that it had welcomed more than one million visitors in 2023.
