M&S Bank Arena Liverpool: 62.7% Growth in Premium Sales in Year One with Seat Unique
Colm Graham, Head of Partnerships, Hospitality & Exhibition Sales, M&S Bank Arena
In 2024, M&S Bank Arena Liverpool made the most significant premium investment in the venue's history and we needed a premium partner that matched the quality of what we’d built. One year into our partnership with Seat Unique, premium sales have grown by 62.7% and our annual premium revenue has surpassed £1 million.
We committed £2 million to a full refurbishment that introduced five distinct hospitality tiers. To unlock the full commercial potential of that investment, we appointed Seat Unique, Europe's number one destination for premium live, as our official premium hospitality sales platform. The objective was clear: match the quality and scale of what we had built with a platform capable of distributing our inventory at scale to fans both domestically and internationally.
Our ambition was to broaden access and appeal to audiences of all demographics, from entry-level experiences through to high-end packages. The newly introduced Skyline Experience, our first entry-level premium package, has been a great success, accounting for 13% of total sales in its first year, demonstrating the commercial opportunity in broadening the premium tier structure.
Equally significant was the operational transformation. By implementing Seat Unique as our official platform, we fully digitalised our premium hospitality sales process, moving from a largely manual, limited-hours model to a 24/7 global booking engine. Over 54% of bookings are now made outside of standard business hours, unlocking incremental revenue that would previously have gone uncaptured.
Colm Graham, Head of Partnerships, Hospitality & Exhibition Sales, M&S Bank Arena“Alongside our investment into refurbishing our premium offering, we wanted to partner with a leading premium sales platform in the UK market, and quickly identified Seat Unique as the standout choice. One year in, the results speak for themselves.”
With a landmark first year behind us and an upcoming events calendar that includes Paul Simon, Barry Manilow and Kevin Bridges, the partnership is only building momentum. For any venue or rightsholder looking to grow premium revenue, broaden their hospitality offering, and capture demand around the clock, this is what Seat Unique delivers.