The Scottish Conference + Exhibition Centre (SECC) last week announced pre-tax profits of £1.4m, with a 9% year-on-year increase in turnover to £29.5m. As it prepares to open its brand new SSE Hydro Arena later this year, it is also looking ahead to playing a major role in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, one of the world’s biggest sporting events.
In the current climate, maintaining a healthy portfolio of events can be a difficult task, not least due to the requirements of both client and visitor.
Exhibition Industry News caught up with Sales Director Ben Goedegebuure to find out what they’ve been doing to establish such a positive looking future for the venue.
Strong exhibition revenues have contributed to the figures reported last week, which after a tough few years suggests that the SECC has perhaps changed the way it supports them, something we put to Ben.
“Not in the short term. However, as a very general note, it has changed over the last decade or so. We’re much closer to the clients now through both funding support and planning support. We have also developed a very close relationship with the city marketing bureau so that we stay fully up to date with any opportunities. There are different ways of working nowadays and you need to be a lot closer to your customers and become more deeply involved with the events and their requirements. It’s not been an overnight change, but a recognition that, over time, we had to adapt and be more interactive with the events we are hosting.”
In order to work in tandem with their clients, their evolution has included a re-thinking of how the venue allocates support staff to any given event, as Ben explains.
“In the past, venues like ours would allocate staff to manage and support individual events. They could be working on a trade exhibition one week, a medical conference the following week and then on to a live music concert. What we now have are staff that specialise purely in these particular areas and who understand the needs of those types of event. This means that our clients are getting a far more knowledgeable service, delivering their goals more efficiently and helping to establish long-term sustainability.”
Ongoing Improvements
The venue has made continual updates to its visitor experience, something that plays a crucial part in the success of the events. When the SECC Hydro opens in September it will feature state of the art digital signage, and visitors will be welcomed to the SECC complex by the sight of a brand new restaurant. Major improvements have also been carried out on the sites’ visitor Wi-Fi as well as gradual improvements to the exhibition halls.
“In the modern world, visitors to venues like this carry with them very specific expectations, especially those attending trade and business events. To be successful and to ensure the events that we host are successful, it is vital we meet and exceed those expectations.”
The venue will undergo further changes for next years Commonwealth Games when temporary structures are built on the site to host key facilities like the international broadcast and media centres. Billed as the SECC Precinct, the venue will form the major visitor hub for the games, playing a significant role in the long-term regeneration plans for the Clyde Riverside.
“The excitement for the games is already building”, said Ben. “For the people of Glasgow, the surrounding areas and, in many respects, the whole of Scotland, the Commonwealth Games will be a far bigger deal than the Olympics, simply because they will be more accessible to them.”
This article is sponsored by Pitmans People – Event Crewing Specialists
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