| Year | Events |
| 1979 |
Scottish Development Agency (SDA) supports the concept of a purpose built exhibition and conference centre being built in Glasgow. The derelict Queens Dock site at Finnieston is identified as the location. the budget is set at £36 million including infilling the docks, ground stabilisation and road infrastructure. |
| 1982 |
Sept, Management contract awarded to Bovis Construction Ltd |
| 1983 |
Jan, Ground stabilisation commenced |
| 1983 |
June, Building works commenced |
| 1985 |
Aug, Contract completed
Original Costs and Funding Arrangements
Site development - £11.5 million
- Scottish Development Agency (50.0%)
- Glasgow District Council (25.0%)
- Strathclyde Regional Council (25.0%)
Building Costs - £24.5 million
- Scottish Development Agency (33.3%)
- Glasgow District Council (16.6%)
- Strathclyde Regional Council (16.6%)
- Private Sector (33.3%)
(11 private shareholders – Banks, financial institutions, Pension Funds etc) |
| 1985 |
7 Sept – Gala performance by the SNO in Hall 1 (now the Loch Suite)
8 Sept - First exhibition – Commercial Interiors and Shopfitting Exhibition
Oct - Modern Homes Exhibition – Record attendance of 275,100.
Nov - SECC “officially” opened by HM the Queen during the Scottish Motor Show.
|
| 1986 |
First concert - UB40 played to capacity audience
First year's attendance – 1.5 million visitors - making it Scotland's most visited attraction.
|
| 1988 |
June – Grand International Show staged in Hall 4 as part of the Glasgow Garden Festival. It was one of the most ambitious events staged at the Centre. It had lakes and lagoons with wading flamingos, rain forest areas with macaws and fountains shooting water 50 feet into the air – it was spectacular. |
| 1989 |
Forum Hotel opens (later to become the Moat House Glasgow and now the Crowne Plaza)
The SECC is the HQ venue for the European Special Summer Olympic games.
|
| 1990 |
Glasgow is designated European City of Culture. SECC hosts performances by:
- Pavarotti (top price tickets were priced at £75. Stratdclyde Regional Council hired Hall 1 which carried a live link of the concert; 2,000 tickets were sold at £12 each as part of an early “social inclusion” programme)
- The Bolshoi Opera and Ballet (Hall 4 set up as replica of Moscow's Bolshoi theatre complete with orchestra pit and seating for 5,400) Performances of Mlada and Maid of Orleans had never been seen outside the Soviet Union
- In October Bryan Adams played to an audience of 12,000 – Britain's largest indoor, all standing concert.
|
| 1991 |
SDA function merged with the Scottish Training Agency to form Scottish Enterprise. SDA's shareholding divided equally between Glasgow District Council and Strathclyde Regional Council.
Shareholding as at May 1991
- Glasgow District Council (45.43%)
- Strathclyde Regional Council (45.43%)
- Private Sector (9.13%)
Pavarotti returns to play the SECC, a first for a UK venue.
|
| 1993 |
SEC Ltd makes a trading profit of £46,000 in the year to September, the first in the company's history. Accumulated losses from opening stand at almost £5.5 million.
The venue opens its own Box Office as part of Glasgow City Council's Ticketlink operation.
World Championship Boxing – three World Championship fights on the same bill; the first “Triple hitter” outside the USA.
At the Boat Caravan Camping and Leisure Show, SECC welcomes its ten millionth visitor, less than nine years after opening.
The 14th World Orchid Conference staged – the only event of its type to be commemorated with a set of postage stamps. Another spectacular exhibition accompanied the conference.
KPMG carried out an Economic Impact Assessment of SECC. The business staged at the Centre injects some £49.7 million into the economy of Greater Glasgow.
|
| 1994 |
Board of SECC propose building a new conference centre to replace the Hall 1 auditorium. In conjunction with Glasgow District Council and Strathclyde Regional Council, business plans for the new facility are developed and agreed. |
| 1994 |
On 12 December, following torrential rain, the River Kelvin burst its banks and water flowed tdrough old railway runnels flooding the entire SECC site.
Concerts due to take place at this time were cancelled. The date for the opening of Circus and Carnival was delayed. Performances by the Singing Kettle were disrupted. Although the flood waters subsided in less than 24 hours, the mess left behind was huge.
Within just five days, the SECC was up and running again, thanks to the efforts of staff, contractors and the City Council.
|
| 1995 |
The net profit increased to just under £1 million pounds.
Wet Wet Wet play a record six nights.
Sir Norman Foster unveils his plans for the new conference auditorium to enthusiastic acclaim by the media. In September construction of the Conference Centre begins
|
| 1996 |
The new 5,095m2 exhibition hall, Hall 3, opens on schedule in September.
With local government reorganisation , Strathclyde Regional Council was abolished. The Region's shareholding in SECC was therefore inherited by the new Glasgow City Council.
Shareholding as at April 1996
- Glasgow City Council (91.87%)
- Private Sector (9.13%)
|
| 1997 |
The Loch Suite (formerly Hall 1) opens on schedule in May.
The venue plays host to the Rotary International Convention in June. With over 24,000 delegates and partners this is the largest ever conference held in Scotland.
Clyde Auditorium opens on 7 September for the 69th conference of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA).
The business objectives set for the Conference Centre were to:-
- Increase the level of conference business staged at the SECC threefold - from around 50,000 delegate days each year to 150,000 by the year 2003
- Increase the annual economic benefit to the local economy accruing from the conferences staged from £8.6 million in 1993 to £25 million by 2003
Around 10,000 people visit the Clyde Auditorium for “Doors Open Day” the first opportunity the public gets to see around the new building
The Big Red Shed is repainted grey!!
|
| 1999 |
The Clyde Auditorium is proving to be a very popular venue – turnover for conferences is up by 43% compared with the previous year. Turnover and gross profit for concerts increased by 25% and 30% respectively as a direct consequence of events held in the Clyde Auditorium.
Accumulated losses, which stood at £5.5 million in 1992 have been cleared and for the first time, a credit balance has been created in the consolidated Group accounts.
As part of Glasgow's year as City of Architecture and Design, Vivienne Westwood chooses to launch her latest collection at a fashion show staged at the venue.
The business and economic targets were met - four years ahead of schedule. In that year, we achieved:
- 57 conferences
- 150,248 delegate days
- Economic benefit to the City of £26.5 million
|
| 2000 |
Work begins on a major refurbishment of the concourse. Scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, the look of the main public area of the venue will be completely transformed. |
| 2001 |
In April, SECC launches our own Box Office after Glasgow District Council decides to withdraw from the Ticketlink operation. By September, SECC had carried out 63,595 transactions, selling 165,437 tickets with a value of £3.95 million.
Work began on a £1.75 million refurbishment of Hall 4 concert facilities – the seating was turned around 180 degrees giving audiences improved access and egress routes. New bar areas are created and theatrical lighting is introduced to the bar, merchandise and circulation areas. New dressing rooms were built for performers along with crew catering and green room facilities.
SECC Board approves proposal to carry out a complete master plan exercise for the site which will provide a vision for the development of the company and its facilities over the next ten years – project has been called QD2 – the second redevelopment of the Queens Dock.
|
| 2003 |
In October, the £350 million QD2 master plan was unveiled to widespread acclaim. It produced the first vision for the development of the site, witd a new 12,500 seat national entertainments arena. The carparks to the West of the site will be sold for residential development and a piece of land to the east has been identified for commercial development.
|
| 2004 |
Following a rigorous tendering process, Foster and Partners were appointed design team leader to create the new national arena.
In July, Glasgow-based developer Elphinstone was appointed as the preferred developer to build a unique urban-village. Elphinstone plans to transform the west end of the SECC's site into a £350 million sustainable urban village providing homes for families, key worker accommodation, work/live units, serviced apartments as well as mainstream housing in a prestigious riverside location.
Box Office continues to perform well – during the year, SECC sold more than 920,000 tickets with a face value of over £20 million.
|
| 2005 |
Fosters designs for the Arena were unveiled in October to critical acclaim from the press. The 12,500-seat Arena will be the largest entertainments venue in Scotland and the only one of its scale in the UK built specifically for concerts and events.
KPMG appointed to update the economic impact study they had previously carried out for SECC in 1993.
|
| 2006 |
Full planning consent for the National Arena was granted in September. |
| 2007 |
The results of KPMG's economic impact study were revealed. The study showed that as a result of the business conducted by SECC during the financial year 2006/2007, the net additional expenditure in Glasgow was £347 million, in Scotland £216 million and in the UK £109 million. This expenditure supports sustains 6,582 full-time-equivalent jobs in Glasgow, 3,933 in Scotland and 2,193 in the UK.
In March, it was announced that SECC had appointed Macdonald Estates as preferred developer to undertake a major project, comprising a multi-storey car park, 4/5-star hotel and office accommodation, on the area that had previously been reserved for a super casino.
The financial year 2006-2007 was the best year ever for the conference sales sector. A total of 52 conferences were staged, attended by 54,001 delegates that generated 245,077 delegate days – this represents an 25% increase on delegate days in the previous period and a 19% boost in delegate numbers.
Record performance announced. Turnover at £15.7 million was up 14 % on the previous year and net profit for the year, before taxation, was £2.1 million.
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