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Birmingham’s NEC Group involved in plans for new arena venue in Edinburgh
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 3 December 2019
Birmingham venue operator the NEC Group has announced a new venture that will see it work with Lothian Leisure Development Ltd to launch the first ever arena venue in Edinburgh.
The 8000 capacity venue will be built on a site in Straiton to the south of the Scottish capital alongside conference facilities, a cinema, hotels and retail operations. The two companies say that the new venue complex will be “a much-needed addition to the capital, complementing Edinburgh’s cultural and entertainment offering and providing a significant tourism and jobs boost for the region”.
Announcing the project, Dave Fowler of LLD told reporters: “These exciting proposals showcase the modern, indoor arena that Edinburgh deserves, and with operating partner NEC on board the capital is assured a pipeline of the world’s greatest entertainment talent. We see this as a revolution in entertainment provision for one of the world’s most cultural capitals – and one which will benefit all sections of the community”.
Meanwhile, NEC Group’s Phil Mead added: “We host over 700 events per year in the Birmingham area and have always planned to take our successful events model to new cities with the backing of our majority shareholder, Blackstone. Edinburgh is well known for its wonderful cultural offering but remains one of the only European capital cities without an indoor arena and so we’re excited by the thought of being able to bring some big names in entertainment to the region”.
The project is still in an early phase at the moment, but the two partners hope that they will have a planning application for the new complex ready by the end of next year.
