Christopher BarrettGlasgow’s Scottish Event Campus (SEC) has appointment industry veteran Colin Hartley as director of operations.
One of Scotland’s most experienced live events professionals, Hartley has worked on numerous landmark events in the country, including the Glasgow 2018 European Championships that involved 700 paid staff, 27 venues, 4000 volunteers and a cultural programme across three sites. He was also championships director for the 2015 FIG World Gymnastics Championships, hosted at the OVO Hydro, and was head of festival operations for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Hartley will join the SEC team in early June to oversee the running of SEC’s exhibitions, conferences and live entertainment shows. Among the many live shows at the SEC this year are Iron Maiden, Elton John, Shania Twain and Deacon Blue. As well as overseeing operations around all events, SEC said Hartley will play an integral role in helping it meet its goal of becoming net zero by 2030.
The SEC consists of the 14,200-capacity OVO Hydro; which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, purpose-built conference and entertainment venue The Armadillo (cap. 3,000) and the SEC Centre consisting of 22,000 square metres of interconnected exhibition and event halls.
Hartley said, “I’ve been fortunate to work across some of the world’s biggest and most exciting events and I’m delighted to be bringing that experience to the home of Glasgow’s best events – right here at the SEC. Glasgow and indeed Scotland, has the capacity to rival even some of the world’s biggest cities when it comes to facilities and accessibility and I’m looking forward to helping the SEC solidify its prominence on the global events stage.”
SEC CEO Peter Duthie said, “Colin is by far one of Scotland’s most seasoned event professionals and brings with him a wealth of valuable knowledge and experience. He will be an excellent addition to our senior team as we look to grow the SEC’s reputation as a world-class venue for events at all levels.”