SEC celebrates record year for its venues
Last updated 5th Jun 2019
Kevin Bridge’s run of 19 sell out shows played a part in a record-breaking year for the SEC.
The year 2018-2019 has been the best year so far for the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) aside from 2014 when the Commonwealth Games took place.
Up to 144 performances were held by SEC’s venues including comedian Bridges’ gigs at the Hydro. The exhibition sector grew by 3% in the year, with a record of 47 exhibitions being staged.
Additional highlights at the site involved a straight three-hour performance from Sir Paul McCartney and the 2018 European Gymnastics.
The SSE Hydro became the fourth busiest live entertainment venue in the world for 2018 after attracting 1.1m visitors.
Other SEC arenas also saw success over the year. The Armadillo welcomed Warhorse’s Glasgow premiere and the SEC Centre hosted ScotHot, the Scottish food, drink and hospitality trade exhibition. The show has been reported to be the SEC’s most successful show to date.
Turnover for the company increased by 21% to £35.1m and it is believed its venues have boosted the Glasgow economy by over a million pounds a day – a total of £457m for the year.
Peter Duthie, the SEC’s chief executive, said: “This has been a tremendous year for the business and exceptional in that every sector in which we operate has delivered a record performance.
“This success is measured in financial terms but also by the economic impact the campus generated not only for Glasgow, but also for Scotland and the rest of the UK.