Business leaders attend #AmazingAccrington event at Accrington Stanley's new hospitality suite

#AmazingAccrington welcomed business leaders from across Hyndburn to an exclusive, invitation-only event at Accrington Stanley’s brand new, world-class hospitality facility on Friday 4th March 2022.

One of the first events to take place at the new £2.5m hospitality and conference venue, over 80 local business leaders got the opportunity to take a closer look at the fantastic development, which includes a stunning hospitality suite, the 1968 Lounge, and a state-of-the-art supporters’ bar, aptly named Coley’s after Stanley manager John Coleman.

Following a light breakfast, chair of Amazing Accrington Murray Dawson opened the event in the 1873 Lounge, before Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt and managing director David Burgess, gave an overview of the club’s ongoing development, hospitality and conference facilities, new build bar and the club’s role in the local community, before a Q&A with the audience.

MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, Sara Britcliffe, and leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, Cllr Miles Parkinson OBE, then gave an update on the borough, which was followed by networking and an exclusive tour of the venue and stadium.

Andy Holt, owner of Accrington Stanley Football Club, commented: “This is our first business leaders event ever and I hope it’s the first of many. We hope everyone has had a great day and we hope we’ve impressed them enough to want to make them come back.

“We’ve got three bars, we’ve got a little snug which holds about 50, 170 in the hospitality area which is the 1968 Lounge and in the main bar which is Coley’s we can accommodate up to 250.”

David Burgess, managing director of Accrington Stanley Football Club, added: “It’s something which the fans have been looking forward to and deserve. We’ve had the old Clubhouse there for 40, 50 years or so, it had done its time and it was time to get some new facilities which could help us gain some revenue for the football club. If we can get the revenue in, we can get the better players out there, get more people watching but also on matchdays it’s for the fans.”

Cllr Miles Parkinson OBE, leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, said: “Wow, what a fantastic new facility for our borough. It’s been an absolute privilege to be down here today and we can’t thank Andy Holt and Accrington Stanley enough for this investment.”

Sara Britcliffe, MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, added: “It’s fantastic to be here this morning at Accrington Stanley and to see the transformation that they’ve made here in our local community and one thing that’s so important for us here in Hyndburn is the #AmazingAccrington business leaders to come together and really work together to transform our borough for the betterment of all residents.”

Murray Dawson, chair of Amazing Accrington and MD of Scott Dawson Advertising, commented: “We are so proud to have hosted one of the first events to take place at this wonderful new venue.

“A massive thank you to Andy Holt, David Burgess and the Club for their investment of both money and time showing their commitment to the borough. Also we would like to thank them for hosting us today – it’s been a great opportunity to showcase the new investment to Hyndburn business leaders and the feedback and reviews have been sensational. Although this isn’t primarily a networking event, the amount of deals which have been done this morning is immense.”

Next up at the 1968 Lounge is a ‘Meet the Players’ evening on Tuesday 8th March, whilst matchday hospitality and event bookings can also now be reserved. For further information, contact Karen Gettins on 01254 356950 (Option 2) or via email [email protected].