Blackhouse boost to Swansea Building Arena

Image: Swansea Building Society Arena

Following a successful recruitment process the Swansea Building Society Arena (Swansea, Wales, UK) recently announced that Matt Blackhouse has been appointed as the arena’s new Venue Director and will assume the position from June 2^nd, 2025.

‘event industry news’ stated that Blackhouse brings a wealth of experience in venue and live event management to the business, and coming from his role of Senior Events Project Manager at the 19,000-capacity YTL Arena Bristol in Bristol, England (UK) has played a key role in the development of plans for the region’s new entertainment district.

The Swansea Building Society Arena is a 3,500-capacity indoor arena located in Swansea, Wales (UK). It’s a multipurpose venue that hosts live music, comedy, theater, e-sports, conferences, and other events. The arena is part of the Copr Bay development and opened in March 2022.

The Copr Bay is a large urban regeneration project in Swansea, Wales (UK) aiming to redevelop a previously underutilized area and reconnect the City Centre with its coastline.

‘event industry news’ further stated that Blackhouse brings over 20 years of live entertainment experience to the role and a strong understanding of the industry across South Wales having previously held several key roles at the 7,500-capacity Utilita Arena Cardiff, Wales, including the Deputy General Manager (DGM) and Senior Events Manager as well as roles at the Celtic Manor Resort (golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the City of Newport, South East Wales) and the 2,000-capacity St David’s Hall in Cardiff along with freelancing for the Glastonbury Festival (a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England) in recent years.

Blackhouse assumes the role following the departure of Lisa Mart in March 2025 with the ATG Entertainment and the Swansea Building Society Arena venue team looking forward to continuing to build on the entertainment offering brought to the region and maintaining collaborative efforts with Swansea’s vital grassroots music scene.

Woking (UK)-based the ATG Entertainment is a world leader in live entertainment. Its portfolio of venues includes historic theaters, studio theaters, cinemas, conference spaces, and modern live music arenas. The ATG Entertainment owns, operates or programs 73 venues across Britain, the United States and Continental Europe entertaining over 18 million audience members each year.

The Swansea Building Society Arena continues to be South Wales’ premier events space welcoming close to three-quarter of a million people through the doors since opening in March 2022. The artistes including Fontaines D.C. (an Irish post-punk band), the Manic Street Preachers (Welsh rock band), Katherine Ryan (Canadian comedian and writer), Greg Davies (Welsh comedian-actor), the Bowling For Soup (American rock band), Paloma Faith (English singer- songwriter-actor), and Sarah Millican (English comedian) have graced the stage in the first three years of operation.

Remarked Blackhouse, “It’s a privilege to have been appointed the Venue Director of the Swansea Building Society Arena. The arena has quickly established itself as an important venue in the South Wales landscape. The recent publication of visitor numbers since opening confirms that the audiences and the event hirers have embraced the flexibility of the building as demonstrated by the range of events that have been hosted in the first three years. I look forward to continuing to build on the excellent work that has been done in the opening years drawing on my professional experience to date and working with the team at ATG Entertainment ensuring we continue to grow the program of events, provide an excellent experience to the ticket holders, the event attendees and the venue hirers alike and to help make the arena a ‘must-play’ destination.”

Commented Claire Dixon, Business Director of UK Venues at ATG Entertainment, “We are absolutely delighted to announce the appointment of Matt Blackhouse as the new Venue Director at the Swansea Building Society Arena. Matt brings with him a wealth of experience in live entertainment and venue management and we are thrilled to welcome him into the ATG family. His passion for delivering world-class events combined with his deep understanding of the live music and entertainment industry makes him the perfect fit to lead this iconic venue into its next exciting chapter. The Swansea Building Society Arena is a cornerstone of the cultural and live entertainment scene in South Wales and under Matt’s leadership we are confident it will continue to grow as a vibrant hub for the artistes, the audiences and the wider music business community.”

Concluded Dixon, “We’re incredibly excited about what lies ahead and look forward to working closely with Matt as he brings his vision, energy and expertise to the role.”

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