Scotland’s largest entertainment, exhibition and conference venue has changed its name to more accurately reflect the breadth of activities on its Glasgow campus following the addition of the SSE Hydro.
The new name and branding were revealed earlier tonight at the annual Burns Supper in London hosted by what for more than 30 years has been known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC). Going forward, the campus – which encompasses the Hydro, the Clyde Auditorium and the SECC’s five original exhibition halls – will be known as the Scottish Event Campus (SEC).
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Peter Duthie, chief executive of the city council-backed company that owns the SEC, explained the reasons for the new name and look to some 300 guests at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
“The decision and announcement comes at a time when the company has seen changes in the nature of the business it now operates in,” Duthie said. “The name Scottish Event Campus better describes the site, is more representative of what we do and reflects a vision for the future.
“For clarity, our three buildings will be known as the SSE Hydro, SEC Armadillo and the original building, SEC Centre.”
(Photo: Getty)
The rebranding has been in the works for the past year, and was led by local design agency Freytag Anderson. The agency was appointed following a competitive tender to deliver a contemporary logo and identity system, which were inspired by the architecture on the campus.
The need for a new identity came to the fore following the September 2013 opening of the award-winning SSE Hydro, which last year staged 77 events, 107 performances and welcomed 826,400 visitors. Highlights included sold-out performances from the likes of Justin Bieber and Adele, the live broadcast of the MOBO Awards and hosting Andy Murray Live.
(Photo: Getty)
“We believe that this is the perfect time for a revamp of our brand, building on the success of the business to date,” Duthie said. “Historically, we have found that many people don’t necessarily realise that all of our buildings are part of the SECC.
“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 Ignition Festival of Motoring, both great examples of utilisation of all areas of our campus, internally and externally.”
Recent awards for the campus as a whole include Large Venue of the Year at the UK Event Awards, and Best Event Space at the Event Magazine Awards. Last year, the campus beat off competition from all major UK competitors to win Venue of the Year at the Exhibition News Awards.
During the coming year, the campus is due to host 47 exhibitions including seven events making their début at the venue. Over the next five years, it is scheduled to host more than 100 conferences from the international, European and UK association market.