Green light for second hotel at Ricoh Arena

22 October 2020

Planning permission has been granted for a new 150-room hotel at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

The new £15m Hampton by Hilton hotel developed by WPS Trading Ltd – a firm owned by Wasps owner Derek Richardson - will go alongside the complex’s 121-room DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.

The application has been approved after Coventry City Council rejected an unrelated plan in November 2019 from Cryfield Investments for a 120-bedroom, six-storey hotel next to the ground.

A spokesman for Wasps Group said: “We have long held the view that having an additional hotel operating directly with the venue will enable Ricoh Arena to better cater for the millions of people it attracts every year via conferences, exhibitions, music concerts and sporting events.

“We are delighted that the planning application has been approved and our focus now moves on to the construction of the hotel, which we hope to conclude by late 2022.”

Speaking at the start of March about the project, Stuart Cain, chief executive (venue) at Wasps Group, said: "This is an exciting project which will greatly benefit not only Wasps Group but the city as a whole.

"The new hotel has the potential to create more than 30 new jobs in the hospitality sector and will bring in around £3.5m per year to the local economy.

"It will also support Wasps Group’s ambitious commercial plans. We have some of the finest conference facilities in the Midlands.

"Unfortunately, a shortage of bedroom stock at Ricoh Arena means that we are not always able to reach our full potential by accommodating people on site.

"The new hotel will make us an even more attractive venue for organisers that are looking to stage large events over more than one day, and we estimate that it will boost revenue by as much as £1m per year."

Cllr Jim O'Boyle, cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, added: "This is great news. A hotel has always been part of the wider plan for the whole development, so I'm glad to see this progress.

"I'm sure it will enable the team to secure even more brilliant events at the Ricoh and of course it will create new jobs for local people."

Work on the new hotel is planned to be finished by late 2022.

A second application remains live for another hotel – a 78-bed Travelodge -outside the Ricoh Arena which would incorporate a McDonald’s drive-thru on the current car brokers yard on Judds Lane.

Applicant Cryfield Investments Ltd had initial plans turned down last year but returned with a second bid in May.