What Co-op Live's ex-boss told the M.E.N. two weeks before he quit

With two weeks to go before what should have been opening night at Co-op Live, positivity radiated from Gary Roden. The 23,500-capacity venue's general manager was eagerly awaiting the opening of the UK's newest and largest arena.

He told the Manchester Evening News: "I'm in the luxurious position where I've got a brand new state-of-the-art £365m venue, which by definition will revolutionise what is going on in the UK entertainment scene, it's not a Manchester thing, it's a UK and Europe thing. We're going to supersede what any venue in the UK does."

Sixteen days later, on Thursday (April 25), Mr Roden sensationally quit from his position. The former Ticketmaster UK executive had been in post for 12 months before Co-op Live should have opened with two gigs from Bolton comedian Peter Kay.

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But the Eastlands venue has endured a turbulent week. Thousands saw their invitations to Saturday's test show revoked less than two hours before the event amid a power issue - cutting capacity for the night from 11,000 to 4,000.

The M.E.N. revealed that police and fire officers had concerns prior to that decision being taken. Two days later, Co-op Live confirmed that Peter Kay's two shows had been postponed by a week, with the venue still not ready to open.

Mr Roden then faced scorn for comments made this week in response to calls for a £1 levy on arena tickets, to go towards grassroots music venues. The BBC reported that Mr Roden believed that solution was 'too simplistic', and suggested that some venues are poorly run.

During his interview with the M.E.N. on April 9, Mr Roden also discussed the balance between grassroots and arena venues in Manchester,