Wolves at the door

Wolverhampton has bounced back onto the meetings and events map with a bang this year.

The reopening of the council-owned The Halls Wolverhampton following an eight-year, £50 million refurbishment programme at a stroke provided the city with a top tier events venue. Formerly the Civic Halls, The Halls Wolverhampton comprises the 3,400 capacity Civic Hall and the 1,200 capacity Wulfrun Hall and is again hosting leading musical and entertainment acts, business events and conferences with AEG Presents managing it, supported by ASM Global.

“This is quite a pivotal moment in in our evolution as a place as a visitor destination,” says Tim Johnson, chief executive of City of Wolverhampton Council. “We've been investing heavily in some of the assets in the city, most significantly The Halls. Now, we’ve genuinely got a venue as good as anywhere in the country.”

The refurbishment means that the venue can be used more extensively for daytime conference and exhibition activity, which it struggled to do in the past. The venue is an integral part of Wolverhampton’s entertainment and music heritage and an important part of its 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.

“Creating an exciting place that works in the round is a really key part of our future as a city”, says Johnson. “Meetings and events is a sector that has great potential for growth in terms of jobs and investment.

The Halls Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton map

“It's the big, strategic stuff, but it's also that next level of community-based arts, culture and music - the city's got a huge heritage in all of that. We're very conscious of our heritage, our culture, it's what makes places special and unique.”

Elsewhere in the city Wolverhampton Grand Theatre has capacity for 1,200 and is well suited for conferences and presentations, while Grand Central Station, sited next to the city centre’s train, tram and bus interchange, is an historic venue capable of hosting more than 1,000 delegates.

Molineux, home of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, is a key venue in the city. A stone’s throw from the city centre, the stadium is a treasure trove of event spaces, with all bar one offering uninterrupted views of the pitch. It lends itself well to both reception-style events and more conventional theatre-style conferences.

In the heart of the city centre, a short distance from the railway station, Wolverhampton Art Gallery offers a historic and cultural location for events, corporate meetings, away days, training and functions. Among the building’s unique and impressive spaces, the recently-refurbished Georgian Gallery can host up to 100 delegates.

Designed by renowned architect Julius Chatwin and built in 1884 with Bath stone to house the city’s art collection, the Grade II-listed art gallery now boasts a variety of classic and contemporary art featuring the largest pop art collection outside London.

Located on the outskirts of the city centre, Wolverhampton Racecourse is only 10 minutes from the M54 and has 1,500 free car parking spaces. It offers easily accessible suites and halls for hire with loading areas, making it ideal for conferences, exhibitions or product launches. Its largest suite on the ground floor is particularly popular and offers more than 600 sqm of pillar-free space that could hold up to 600 delegates.

With its focus on the future, the council’s plan that not only involves Wolverhampton hosting major national and international events but being able to do so with an improved infrastructure of facilities such as F&B and hotels.

Grand Theatre

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC Molineux

“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.”

Tim Johnson, chief executive of City of Wolverhampton Council.

Interchange8 Aerial View

“One of the things that we're well advanced with is the development of a new box park asset, which will create a different F&B experience and bring more visitors to the city, which is important,” adds Johnson. “We've seen in the last six months two planning applications for two new hotels in the city that will enhance the hotel offer. And as a council, we are looking to promote a higher grade hotel on one of our key development sites again, so we can make sure we've got a hotel offering that is reflective of a top 20 city, which is where we need to get to."

The City of Wolverhampton has staged several landmark events over the last 18 months including the start and finish of the Commonwealth Games road cycling time trials, something the council made sure to make the most of, says Johnson.

“This time last year, we hosted the Commonwealth Games time trial cycle events in and around the city which, which were really great and when you do it, people grasp the ambition of that. There's a lot of opportunity.

“What was significant was that we hosted a number of familiarisation visits from different parts of the industry, the conferencing and exhibition space, and I think people were a little bit blown away. If I had a penny for every time somebody said, ‘We didn't think Wolverhampton was quite like this’!"

The city has successfully secured significant Government funding in recent years with £15.76m Future High Streets Fund and £25m Towns Deal funding helping support transformational change.

The city also has the kudos of being home to the first ministerial office outside of Westminster, with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities moving to the eye-catching i9 building, at the heart of Wolverhampton’s emerging commercial district, in 2021.

“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, and we know we're not a Birmingham or a Manchester, but we can be very, very exciting nonetheless in a slightly different space.

“All the pieces of the jigsaw are starting to be put in place.”

Box Space

Coronation bunting Victoria St