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The former boss of The O2 has stepped in to replace Gary Roden as the Manchester venue's opening is postponed once again
By James Hanley on 26 Apr 2024
Rebecca Kane Burton
Venue management veteran Rebecca Kane Burton has been named interim boss of Manchester’s Co-op Live following the resignation of general manager Gary Roden.
Kane Burton served a near five-year stint as VP and GM of The O2 in London before stepping down in 2016 to become chief executive of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End venue chain LW Theatres until departing in 2021.
Prior to The O2, Kane Burton was MD of the 10,400-cap Alexandra Palace, also in London, and previously held a senior role at English Heritage. She was appointed UK & Ireland CEO of venue services company Sodexo Live! in 2022.
Roden’s exit from the 23,500-cap Co-op Live – a joint venture between Oak View Group (OVG) and City Football Group (CFG) – was confirmed last night (25 April) in the midst of a turbulent week for the UK’s largest live entertainment arena, which has been forced to postpone its opening for a second time.
The £365 million venue’s official launch was pushed back due to a delay in completion of the power supply at the site, days after its capacity for a free test performance by Rick Astley was cut from 11,000 to 4,000 at short notice.
Its grand opening with two shows by comedian Peter Kay, originally slated for this week, has now been switched to 23-24 May, while a 10,000-cap test event with the Black Keys set for tomorrow (27 April) will instead take place on 15 May.
“Rescheduling The Black Keys and Peter Kay gives the dedicated team the time and space needed to finalise systems and measures”
“It’s always been very important to me that we only open Co-op Live when it is safe and appropriate to do so, and rescheduling The Black Keys and Peter Kay gives the dedicated team the time and space needed to finalise systems and measures,” says OVG chair and CEO Tim Leiweke. “I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to every fan that has been impacted by this decision and others this week, and join the full team in thanking them for their continued patience and support as we prepare to open our doors.”
Roden’s recent comments to the BBC that some small music venues were “poorly run”, in response to the Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) calls for a compulsory £1 levy on tickets sold for UK live music events above 5,000-cap, also caused controversy.
“Why is a small venue failing?” he said. “Absolutely, en masse bills are going up and this, that and the other. But ultimately if there are 1,000 venues, one of them is going to be the best-run venue and one of them is going to be the poorly run venue, and where does the money go?
“If the conversation stops being ‘Give me a quid’ and quite aggressive – if it changed to be, ‘What can we do together to help?’, that’s where I think we start to get into that apprenticeship conversation and all those different things that we want to work through.”
MVT chief Mark Davyd criticised the remarks as “disrespectful and disingenuous”.
“The UK’s grassroots music venues are not ‘poorly run’, and it is disrespectful and disingenuous to suggest otherwise,” he told NME. “This is a highly skilled and experienced sector facing almost insurmountable and highly specialist challenges.”
“Neither Co-op Live nor Oak View Group share the sentiment expressed by former Co-op Live general manager Gary Roden regarding the grassroots industry”
Roden’s exit comes almost a year to the day since he joined Co-op Live as GM and executive director. He previously spent over eight years at Ticketmaster UK, latterly as SVP of client development and commercial.
OVG International president Jessica Koravos says Roden has “decided to resign” and the company remains “focused on opening Co-op Live”.
“We’d like to thank Gary for his help bringing the UK’s newest arena to live entertainment fans and wish him the best for the future,” she says. “Rebecca Kane Burton has been named interim GM, effective today. Rebecca is a seasoned veteran of venue management and live entertainment in the UK having served as VP/GM of The O2 from 2012-2016 and CEO of LW Theatres from 2016-2021.
“Neither Co-op Live nor Oak View Group share the sentiment expressed by former Co-op Live general manager Gary Roden regarding the grassroots industry. As OVG chairman and CEO Tim Leiweke has repeatedly stated, Co-op Live remains committed to grassroots music in Manchester and beyond, including teaming up with Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham on the Artist of the Month campaign, and as a founding partner of Beyond The Music.
“Co-op Live also donates over £1m a year to the Co-op Foundation to support communities and empower young people to take social action through its new Young Gamechangers fund. Oak View Group and Co-op Live remain happy to meet with grassroots organisations once the venue is fully operational.”
Meanwhile, Co-op Live has moved to reassure ticket-holders that upcoming dates with Boogie Wit Da Hoodie (1 May) and Olivia Rodrigo (3-4 May) will go ahead as planned.
A statement from the Co-op Group adds: “As the naming rights sponsor for Co-op Live, we are very disappointed in the delayed opening of the venue and fully recognise the disruption this has caused to affected ticket holders, many of whom are Co-op members.
“Co-op Live is an incredible venue and is a force for good for Manchester, our region and the UK as a whole. We look forward to seeing the venue fully open in accordance with the timescales provided by OVG today.”
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