The countdown is now well and truly on for completion of the £333million replacement for Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.
The Event Complex Aberdeen (TECA) is due to open its doors this summer.
The world-class facility has been hailed as an important part of Aberdeen City Council’s plan to grow the local economy.
It has been forecast TECA will lead to an additional 4.5million visitors annually, as well as £113million of visitor spend and £63million net gross value added to the Scottish economy.
It is also expected more than 350 full-time-equivalent permanent jobs will be created in the first decade.
The venue is being delivered by the council and development partner Henry Boot Developments.
The complex being constructed by Robertson Group is situated close to Aberdeen International Airport and the new city bypass.
The 12,500-capacity main arena will host conferences, exhibitions and music concerts, and will attract major artists and events to the city.
A high-profile business gathering, Offshore Europe, will see tens of thousands of delegates from all around the world converge at TECA from September 3-6.
Big names from the music world already lined up to perform at the venue include Alice Cooper (October 5, 2019) and Elton John (November 20-21, 2020). Two of Aberdeen’s largest professional services firms were last month named as the first sponsors to back the new entertainment arena.
Anderson Anderson & Brown and Aberdein Considine have been announced as the first hospitality partners of TECA.
FES FM won the contract for the energy centre, which will provide clean, sustainable and reliable energy. Ian Maitland, managing director of FES FM, said: “This facility is one of the first of its kind in Scotland and it will produce an independent, low carbon source of heating, power and cooling for TECA, and both the Hilton and Aloft hotels.”