M&S Bank Arena and Exhibition Centre Liverpool operator ACC Liverpool sees annual pre-tax losses widen to almost £2m amid a downturn in conference bookings. Tony McDonough reports
ACC Liverpool said measures introduced by the Government in the 2024 autumn Budget had an adverse knock-on effect on its own financial results.
In accounts just published on Companies for the 12 months to March 31, 2025, ACC Liverpool, which is owned by Liverpool City Council, is reporting a 12% fall in revenues to £30.6m and pre-tax losses widening to £1.9m from £429,923 in the previous year.
ACC Liverpool Group comprises the M&S Bank Arena, ACC Convention Centre, Exhibition Centre Liverpool and Pullman Hotel. Its ticketing agency TicketQuarter provides ticketing solutions to third parties alongside its own box office operation.
In the accounts, ACC chair Kate Nichols said the business was expecting a bit of a downturn after Eurovision in the previous financial year. However, the effects of the 2024 autumn Budget had a worse impact than expected.
“Actual performance felt disappointingly short due to a reduced quarter for bookings and corporate conferencing, with market confidence negatively impacted by the autumn 2025 budget statement, in particular the unexpected employment taxes.
All of the core event sectors have demonstrated double-digit year-on-year growth. Historical trading patterns indicate that such downturns in the corporate sector can be expected on a cyclical basis, typically every three to five years, and that markets quickly recover thereafter.
“Our order book for the year ending March 31, 2026, supports this expectation. These results highlight the perils of market and economic risk that continues to pose challenges to the business.
“With further global political instability and prolonged cost uncertainty expected, we continue to manage and respond to risk having experienced several short term shocks in recent years.”
On April 13, ACC Liverpool will unveil a new identity. It will be “retiring” the ACC Liverpool Group name. Instead, the individual venues will be designated as the Convention Centre at Liverpool Experience Campus or the Exhibition Centre at Liverpool Experience Campus.
M&S Bank Arena, where the business is looking to add a further 372 seats to its existing 11,000, will not see its name change.
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Chief executive Faye Dyer said: “Our new identity is inspired by the unique spirit of Liverpool and defines, with confidence, who we are and what we stand for. We are not a single venue; we are a campus of brands – four stages that deliver a collection of experiences.
“The new approach represents the scale and flexibility of our multi‑venue campus, one of our greatest strengths, and expresses clearly the full depth and breadth of what we offer and what we want to be in future.”