AMION advised the Peel Group and Salford City Council on the development of the £26m Salford City Stadium (SCS) which opened in 2012. This was business plan-led from the outset, not design-led, with the financial model being the key driver of the project and used to establish the parameters for the stadium design and capacity.
AMION provided financial and business planning advice including advice on prudential borrowing, ERDF funding and working capital requirements. This included commercial advice in relation to the conference and catering facilities and wider commercial and sponsorship opportunities.
AMION’s advice was multi-dimensional and included financial modelling, sensitivity analysis, review of operating and governance models, development of resource models, OJEU procurement and evaluation of operators and construction team, extensive consultation and engagement with the stadium architects AFL, negotiations with stadium users including Salford City reds and Sale Sharks, soft market testing for core services, review of wider commercial opportunities, financial and commercial advice throughout the development of all joint venture agreement for a SPV and all funding agreements, risk assessment, market analysis and a review of the Stadium’s wider fit with sport and leisure across Salford and Greater Manchester. We worked very closely with the principal end user to develop a rental agreement underpinned by financial modelling.
Update:
The 12,000 capacity stadium was completed within time and budget and will host a Rugby League World Cup game in 2013. The stadium has been built with the option to increase its capacity to 20,000 if required and includes community training facilities to promote participation in sport across Salford which was always a key objective of this project.