Sheffield Arena appoints new GM

Sheffield Arena in Yorkshire, the UK’s seventh most-visited arena, has appointed a new general manager to replace Rob O’Shea, who has stepped down to focus on his promotions business.

Joe Waldron, who has been at the arena for 18 years, including 11 as deputy GM, takes over the top job, with O’Shea leaving to concentrate on his work with regional promoter Manifesto Events.

“I am sad to be leaving colleagues who have become friends,” O’Shea tells The Yorkshire Post, “but after 11 years of running Sheffield Arena the time is right to concentrate all my efforts on Manifesto Events and promoting shows in Sheffield.”

“After 11 years of running Sheffield Arena the time is right to concentrate all my efforts on Manifesto Events”

Waldron, meanwhile, promises to focus on “maintaining and developing our relationships with all of the stakeholders who continue to make the arena the success story it is for Sheffield”.

The 13,500-cap. venue is owned by charity Sheffield City Trust and operated by its subsidiary Sheffield International Venues (SIV), which took over from Live Nation in 2015. It was ranked 17th in the world in Pollstar’s recent mid-year report, with ticket sales of 306,365 in H1 2017.

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