SECC becomes the Scottish Event Campus

The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), the Glasgow entertainment and conference complex that includes the SSE Hydro arena, has been rebranded the Scottish Event Campus (SEC).

The news – announced last night at the SE(C)C’s annual Burns Night dinner at the V&A in London – reflects the evolution of the site, established in 1985, from an exhibition centre to one that includes a significant proportion of live entertainment. The SECC added the 3,000-cap. Armadillo (Clyde Auditorium) venue in 1997, followed by the AEG Live-operated SSE Hydro (13,000-cap.) in 2013.

SEC chief executive Peter Duthie (pictured) explains: “The decision and announcement comes at a time when the company has seen changes in the nature of the business it now operates in. The name Scottish Event Campus better describes the site, is more representative of what we do and reflects a vision for the future. [O]ur three buildings will be known as The SSE Hydro, SEC Armadillo and the original building, the SEC Centre.

“We believe that this is the perfect time for a revamp of our brand, building on the success of the business to date. Historically, we have found that many people don’t necessarily realise that all of our buildings are part of the SECC.

“The name Scottish Event Campus  better describes the site, is more representative of what we do and reflects a vision for the future”

“We also want to showcase that the SEC is able to stage large-scale events, capitalising on the huge success of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and, more recently, the Ignition Festival of Motoring – both great examples of utilisation of all areas of our campus, internally and externally.

“It is important to add that the new name still retains a clear reference to its origins, maintaining a connection to the excellent reputation the venue has built up in each of the market sectors – conferences, exhibitions and live entertainment – in which we operated as SECC.”

Major shows at The SSE Hydro last year included sold-out performances by Adele and Justin Bieber.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.