City of Wolverhampton Council has reported that the opening season at The Halls Wolverhampton has been estimated to have boosted the local economy by almost £1.6 million and supported over 250 people into employment.

The new look venue reopened back in May as Britpop legends Blur marked the official reopening of the iconic venue with a sell out show.

The opening season saw 25 shows staged between 26 May and 13 July, attracting more than 50,000 visitors to Wolverhampton, with 20% of sales coming from WV postcodes, 60% from the wider region and 20% from other UK and international visitors.

City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for Visitor City, Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, said: “As we expected, The Halls Wolverhampton is proving to be the cornerstone of a resurgent night time economy in the city centre - and we know businesses are now planning use of their resources around its events.

“There has been excellent feedback from artists, managers, agents, promoters and ticket holders to the new look venue and it is raising the city’s national and international profile – one customer even flew in from the Philippines solely to attend The Script show.

“Working closely with the new operator, AEG Presents, the venue’s rich heritage has been preserved and our vision of reimagining an iconic institution that will continue to bring joy to the lives of locals – and city visitors - for years to come has been realised.

“It will play a key part in shaping our city centre and is fostering growing confidence in Wolverhampton through more private sector investment. There is also strong potential for the delivery of a quality hotel offer and we are working with partners to entice more private sector food and beverage provision.”

Steve Homer, CEO at AEG Presents UK, said “We couldn’t be more pleased with the way the opening weeks have gone at The Halls, the response from the music industry has been incredibly positive and we were delighted to welcome over 50,000 people through the doors in the first month. 

“Seeing the local businesses thriving in the hours leading up to the shows has been a great sight to behold – the calendar for the autumn and beyond is looking strong so we are starting as we mean to go on.”

As well as hosting leading music and entertainment performers, The Halls Wolverhampton is also staging business events and conferences.

To keep up with the latest information on The Halls Wolverhampton and to register for updates visit The Halls Wolverhampton.