Arena Events : Group backed with £15.6 million facility from HSBC UK

Arena Group, the company behind world-famous events including The AELTC Wimbledon Championships, Virgin Money London Marathon and the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia for the Joshua v Ruiz II rematch, has been supported with a £15.6 million Coronavirus support facility from HSBC UK.

Wimbledon-headquartered Arena Group, which designs and delivers live events, received the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan (CBILS) to provide additional financial security to the business during 2020 and throughout 2021, following the majority of large-scale sporting and cultural events being cancelled last year.

During the pandemic, Arena Events has adapted its business offering, building field hospitals and drive-through coronavirus testing centres in the UK, the US, the Middle East and Africa.

Greg Lawless, CEO of Arena Group, said: 'We were all set to deliver temporary facilities for the Tokyo Olympics, the Ryder Cup in the US in addition to our regular recurring work with many of the UK's premier sporting events last year, so needless to say 2020 wasn't the year that the business expected, as the Olympics and countless other national and global events were cancelled or postponed.

'However, we moved quickly to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 by reducing our operational cost base and focusing our attention on non-event sources of income. We couldn't have done this without the support of HSBC UK, and their backing has gone a long way in helping us navigate this unpredictable pandemic.'
Liz Anderton, HSBC UK West End Corporate Banking Director, said: 'The events industry has undoubtably been one of the sectors to be hardest hit by the pandemic, so we're pleased to have been able to support Arena Events Group as the company continues to make significant shifts in its day-to-day operations to help it through this period of uncertainty.'