EDINBURGH, Scotland (CelebrityAccess) — Lothian Leisure Development, a UK based entertainment, leisure and sports venue consultancy announced it is partnering with the Birmingham-based NEC Group to launch a new arena in Edinburgh.
The proposed 8,000-capacity arena, which will be built with private funds, will be located on a 30-acre site at Straiton, near downtown Edinburgh.
The arena will anchor a mixed-use district that will also include a conference center, retail and leisure space, and a cinema, as well as two hotels.
NEC Group, which already operates two indoor arenas in Birmingham, will consult on the planning and construction process and when it opens, take on full management of the arena, including event programming, hospitality, commercial rights, catering, and ticketing.
“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. We are already looking forward to opening the redeveloped Bradford Live venue in 2021 and are delighted to now confirm our partnership with LLD which will hopefully see us manage our first venue in Scotland. 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,” said NEC’s Arenas and Ticket Factory Chairman Phil Mead.
“These days it is rare that a capital city doesn’t have an Arena, so this is a long-awaited and positive addition to the Scottish entertainment market,” noted Dave McGeachan from Scottish concert promoter, DF Concerts.
