Harry Styles confirms Manchester arena business venture
26 October 2020, 11:45
Harry Styles releases Golden music video teaser
Harry's Manchester arena is set to open its doors in 2023.
Harry Styles is an extremely busy man. The 'Watermelon Sugar' singer is currently filming Olivia Wilde's thriller Don't Worry, Darling, alongside Chris Pine and Florence Pugh, and he's dropping the highly-anticipated music video for his new single 'Golden' today. Now he's announced his first major business venture – and it's pretty huge.
Harry has paid a "significant figure" to become a minority equity shareholder in a new £350 million arena in Manchester. He will also become the face of the venue, which is in collaboration with The Co-operative Group.
The arena is being built by the US company Oak View Group and when completed the 23,500 capacity venue will be the largest indoor arena in the UK.
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It's not set to open until 2023, though, and the One Direction star will be putting his own stamp on the venue by helping with the design process and delivering his expert knowledge. Construction is set to kick off in November – bringing more than 3,500 jobs to Manchester.
Speaking to the Financial Times about dipping his toe in the business world, Harry said: "I didn’t get into music because I wanted to be a businessman. I got into music because I love music. That’s always going to be a first for me. But when an opportunity like this comes up, for me it feels so much about what I can bring to it as a musician, and also as a fan."
Harry also said he'd come "full circle", having grown up Cheshire – which is near Manchester – and having worked delivering newspapers for the supermarket chain for his first job.
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He added: "It’s about bringing more music to Manchester, wanting to bring more artists there, to use this building as a reminder of why it’s such a great music city, not trying to wipe out other venues."
