Phil Sheeran
General Manager at Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
I am General Manager of the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff which hosts major international touring artists, conferences / exhibitions, TV shows, sporting events & banquets for up to 7,000 people.
Year Joined: 2000
Why did you join the company?
Eager to work in the live music industry I started as a trainee at the Point Depot ( now the O2 Dublin) in 2000. Live Nation owns or manages some of the best venues and events in the world and has some (if not all) of the best people working in so it was an obvious choice for me.
A the end of that year I moved to the role of Deputy GM at the Manchester Apollo (now the O2 Apollo Manchester) which is a fantastic venue to cut your teeth in and then was lucky enough to be promoted to General Manager in 2006. I moved to Cardiff in 2008 to take on my current role.
What do you do in your current job?
That is the beauty of being a General Manager - There is no such thing as a typical day ! This industry is so dynamic and the changes and demands come around so quickly that no one day is the same as any other. It could be dealing with an important on sale in the morning then onto a meeting with local government agencies in the afternoon to a show in the evening. It really is that diverse.
What is good / different about working here?
As each venue is treated as its own business unit I really enjoy the autonomy that that it gives you, the company allows you to develop as a professional and as a person through great support.
In the venues we get on with what we do best and that is managing the expectations and providing the highest standards possible for the thousands of customers who buy tickets for our events each year. There really is nothing better than seeing patrons leave an event smiling and happy!
If you are prepared to work hard Live Nation is a brilliant environment in which you can excel professionally, meet some fantastic people and be involved in some wonderful events. What makes us special is that we always want to find new people with fresh ideas and we have a good laugh along the way as well.