EN takes a trip north to explore one of Manchester’s most striking event venues.
As venues go, it’s pretty difficult to miss Victoria Warehouse.
The early 1900s cotton storage facility, which looms over passers-by, was an abandoned reminder of Manchester’s industrial past before it caught the eye of current owner David Cohen as he ran along the canal.
The business launched as Victoria Warehouse in 2012, initially hosting large music gigs in its cavernous events space before branching into corporate events, the first being with clothing chain GAP.
“It’s only been in the last two or three years that we’ve invested in additional resources,” Beccy Gibson, the venue’s marketing and PR manager, tells EN. “We now do a full range of very varied events: music, sporting, corporate, Christmas, weddings and exhibitions.”
The venue also has planning permission to build an additional 400 bedrooms onsite, significantly expanding its current offering as a hotel.
In terms of events spaces, Victoria Warehouse’s main area, named The Cotton Sheds, offers a combined 4,533sqm of space for organisers to play with, and will host a new Mash Media event – Confex Future Focus – in July of 2018.
“Confex Future Focus will deliver the same inspirational content as International Confex,” explains Simon Farnfield, event director. “While this is a platform for venues to engage with event planners of all denominations, it’s also an amazing opportunity to tap into Manchester’s scientific heritage and showcase the latest innovation and tech that underpins the successful delivery of impactful events.
“Victoria Warehouse fully encapsulates the values of Confex Future Focus with its marriage of heritage and mission to be the UK’s most creatively ambitious event space.”
“The space can really transform into different amazing themes and brands,” Gibson adds.
Victoria Warehouse also offers The Bays – a brand new events space made up of two adjoining areas perfect for awards dinners, drinks receptions and networking events; The Skyhook – a 70-capacity events space for private parties; The Cinema – a relatively self explanatory 20-capacity screening room; and basement spaces The Archives and The Cellars.
Outside of its event spaces the venue also offers the services of its in-house catering company Grape and Grain Catering and its preferred AV supplier Sterling Event Group.
“Our values are creative, adaptable and memorable,” continues Gibson. “We’re very industrial; we’re a raw, urban space and we’re very Mancunian. We’ve got a lot of exposed brick, iron pillars and stone floors.”
For event organisers looking to hold mid-sized events in Manchester, one of the UK’s most iconic, artistic and ambitious cities, Victoria Warehouse may well be the perfect solution.
