Co-op Live boss lifts lid on venue's 'unbelievable' first year in Manchester after huge impact revealed

He's the boss of the £450m Co-op Live Arena, tasked with making sure some of the biggest artists in the world are ready to entertain thousands of fans in Manchester.

But this week Co-op Live's general manager Guy Dunstan is making way for THE Boss - the arrival of Bruce Springsteen for a run of three huge sold out shows in Manchester.

It's a hell of a way to mark the first year anniversary of an arena that has today announced its £1 BILLION impact on the UK economy since first breaking ground in East Manchester.

Springsteen fans from across the world, as well as international music industry bigwigs, will be among the guests descending on Co-op Live tonight, while around 1,000 staff will be working to make it a special night for everyone heading along.

Guy tells the M.E.N. it couldn't be more a fitting opportunity to showcase what the venue has to offer, exactly a year since opening. The Springsteen shows will also see the arena used with a 360 degree end stage for the first time since opening.

Guy says: "This is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate how Co-op Live has established itself in the arena market. This is our milestone, where we've achieved so much, we've come so far and have so much to be excited about for the future."

Talking about the Springsteen show, Guy says it's a "huge production", adding: "Bruce is the ultimate professional - he wants to make sure everything is perfect, prepped and ready so I've been down with their team since the weekend here, they're very happy and loving the building."

Over the past year Co-op Live has played host to 105 live shows, playing to some 1.5m people in the process with artists like Liam Gallagher, the Eagles, Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter and Burna Boy all