Manchester Central is this week hosting what's believed to be the city's largest in-person business event so far this year.
The venue is holding the Housing2021 conference, which is expected to welcome over 8,000 attendees at the sector's "biggest meeting place" - with 10 theatres, over 500 speakers and 400 sponsors.
The event follows a "surge" in bookings at the venue since 'freedom day', with enquiries up 91% on May, and over 100 events booked into its pipeline for the remainder of the year.
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And it comes after Shaun Hinds, CEO of the venue formerly known as G-MEX, told BusinessLive how the landmark "bounced back" after a "catastrophic" pandemic that reduced turnover to almost nothing.
Mr Hinds said today: "After waiting so long for the green light to resume, it was difficult to know how quickly the appetite to get back to live events would return.
"However, the significant uptick we’ve seen in the volume of enquiries over recent weeks is proof that businesses are eager to get events back on the agenda.
“We are now fielding enquiries for a varied mix of shows, ranging from large business conferences, through to intimate gatherings, and music and comedy performances such as the Peter Kay’s Dance For Life, which showcases our breadth of expertise in hosting live events.
“We have also seen strong interest in our hybrid model, where organisers have recognised the power of embracing the digital element of shows to reach wider audiences who can’t be in the immediate vicinity of the event itself, and to cater for those who may not feel ready to return to face to face occasions.”
Housing2021 runs until Thursday, while the venue will also host FittedUK this weekend - one of the UK's largest automotive events, also set to welcome a similar number of people.
Mr Hinds continued: “This strong and steady growth in confidence in the events sector can only be a good thing for everyone involved in the industry, from the venues themselves to the freelancers, tech specialists and security behind the scenes.
"The sector is an ecosystem reliant on each other, and we are thrilled that we are contributing to this with a pipeline of events which now runs well into 2023 and beyond.”
