For the past three years, The Brick Community Stadium has been the home of Wigan Borough Business Awards, but our relationship with the team goes much further than simply hiring a venue for awards night.
Delivering WBBA involves months of planning, meetings, site visits, changing ideas and plenty of conversations about how we can make each year’s event even better. Throughout that process, the stadium team works alongside us. They understand what we’re trying to achieve, help us work through the practicalities and, importantly, are always willing to explore our ideas with us.
Over the past three years, that relationship has developed into a genuine partnership, and WBBA 2026 demonstrated exactly why we value it so highly. Anyone involved in this year’s awards will know that the final preparations came with an unexpected additional challenge. The late confirmation that Wigan Warriors would play Wakefield Trinity in their home semi-final at The Brick Community Stadium on Saturday 26 September meant the stadium would host thousands of rugby supporters during the day, followed shortly after by more than 430 guests arriving for our sold-out awards evening.
It was no small logistical challenge, but from the moment the fixture was confirmed, the focus was on how we could make it work. The stadium team worked closely with Team WBBA and everyone involved in delivering the event, carefully planning how both occasions could take place successfully on the same day. There was a huge amount happening behind the scenes that our guests will never have seen, but thanks to a lot of teamwork, flexibility and communication, both events happened, and what a day it turned out to be for Wigan!
One of the things we’ve valued most about our relationship with The Brick Community Stadium is the freedom to make the venue feel like WBBA. This year, the evening began in the Sir Billy Boston East Stand, where guests joined us for the Networking Reception sponsored by GM Business Growth Hub and Reception Drinks sponsored by Allica Bank.
Moving the Networking Reception from its usual location in the South Stand concourse was another change that required careful planning and coordination, but the stadium team worked with us to make it happen, ensuring we could still create the welcome and experience we wanted for our guests. From there, guests made their way across the stadium to the South Stand for the main awards celebration, passing through our branded walkways before entering a space that had been completely transformed for the evening.
From the signage and sponsor branding to the specially branded dance floor and all the details in between, there was very little indication that just a few hours earlier the stadium had been full of rugby supporters! Being able to create that experience requires far more than a venue. It requires a team that’s prepared to work with us, understand what we want to achieve and find ways to make it happen.
Of course, another important part of the evening that deserves recognition is the food and hospitality. Catering for more than 430 guests is no small undertaking, particularly on a day when the stadium was already hosting a major sporting fixture. From the drinks reception through to the awards dinner and service throughout the evening, the hospitality team worked incredibly hard to ensure our guests were well looked after. The quality of the food, the professionalism of the service and the attention to detail all contribute to the experience we want to create at WBBA. It’s another area where the stadium team consistently delivers, and one we certainly don’t take for granted.
The Brick Community Stadium has also become part of the wider WBBA calendar. Over the past three years, we’ve welcomed different parts of our business community through its doors for WBBA events, including our shortlisted interviews, finalists celebration, as well as the main awards evening each September.
For an awards programme created specifically for the businesses, organisations and people of Wigan and Leigh, it feels fitting to have a home at one of the borough’s most recognisable venues. And as WBBA has developed, the stadium team has developed with us, getting behind new ideas, adapting as our events have changed and becoming part of the team of people who help us bring everything together.
There are always parts of an event that guests see, and an enormous amount that they don’t. This year’s awards night was the perfect example, and this Partner Spotlight is our opportunity to say a very well-deserved THANK YOU to everyone at The Brick Community Stadium. Thank you for the planning, the flexibility, the problem-solving, the fantastic food and hospitality, the countless conversations and for working alongside us not just on awards night, but throughout the WBBA calendar.
After three years together, we’re incredibly proud to recognise The Brick Community Stadium as our Venue Partner and the home of the Wigan Borough Business Awards.
Planning an event?
From conferences and meetings to dinners, celebrations and large-scale events, The Brick Community Stadium offers a range of flexible event spaces in the heart of Wigan. If you’re looking for a venue for your next event, take a look at what’s available and speak to the stadium team about how they can help bring your plans together.
Find out more about events at The Brick Community Stadium.