End of the road for SECC as chiefs unveil new name
A MAJOR exhibition and conference centre is being renamed and rebranded to better reflect all that it offers, officials have said.
The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow has been renamed the Scottish Event Campus (SEC).
The venue, which was officially opened in 1985, comprises the SEC Centre, SEC Armadillo and The SSE Hydro.
Venue chiefs said the old name did not reflect the fact that live entertainment has grown to become a significant part of its business.
SEC chief executive Peter Duthie said: “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 (SEC) 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.
“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.
“We also want to showcase that the SEC is able to stage largescale 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.”
Last year the SSE Hydro staged 77 events and 107 perfor- mances, including sold-out shows from Justin Bieber and Adele.
It also hosted Andy Murray Live for the first time while the Mobo Awards were broadcast live from the venue.
The SEC welcomed more than half a million visitors to exhibitions in the last year and is due to host 47 exhibitions over the coming year.
The SEC worked with local Glasgow design agency Freytag Anderson on the rebrand.