The National Indoor Arena is one of Birmingham’s major attractions for businesses and industry bodies to hold events and conferences, so the news that it will reopen in December following a £26 million facelift has been resoundingly welcomed. However, along with the arena’s new look will come a name change, with the venue to be known henceforth as the Barclaycard Arena.
Barclaycard initially secured the naming rights for the venue, which has a 13,000 seat capacity, back in 2011, but the finance company agreed to postpone the official name change until refurbishment works were completed. It was thought that the new name would be the “NIA: A Barclaycard Unwind Experience”, but on the 29th of September the NEC Group made the decision to shorten the name to the more manageable format it will now take.
BAM Construction is currently carrying out the final stages of the refurbishment programme, meaning that the works are comfortably ahead of schedule. All areas of the arena are being upgraded to offer visitors a world class sports, music and entertainment experience, with around 6,000 square metres of new pre/post show space being added to lift overall capacity.
The Barclaycard Arena will also benefit from brand new food and drink facilities, four new retail units fronting the canal side and double the number of toilets to improve the consumer experience. Each retail point within the arena will offer contactless payment technology in order to speed up the transaction process and cut down the length of the queues at the bars during sell out events.
Chief marketing officer at Barclaycard, Katherin Whitton, revealed that Barclaycard customers will receive a number of perks, such as access to exclusive lounges and pre-sale ticket offers, as a result of the sponsorship deal.
She continues; “Joining forces with the NEC Group in 2011 was all about creating a venue fit for the 21st century – the intention was to create one of the best entertainment venues in the UK and support a city where a significant number of potential customers are situated.
“Following its refurbishment, the Barclaycard Arena has been entirely reinvented, with state of the art facilities, a much increased capacity, brand new retail and merchant spaces and the latest contactless payments technology to vastly improve the customer experience and make it easier for those attending to enjoy the entertainment.
“Birmingham is a thriving city at the heart of the UK and this project is about recognising the important role it plays in the country’s economy and supporting it in becoming a national destination for music and entertainment.”
The grand unveiling of the Barclaycard Arena’s new look will come on the 2nd of December, when thousands of visitors are expected to flood into the venue through the newly created glass façade which will form the key entrance from Brindleyplace. Canadian singer Michael Buble will be performing on the evening, with officials from the NEC Group predicting a strong turnout for the event.
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