Great Britain. Liverpool’s Arena & Convention Centre has contributed 221 million euros to the local economy in its first year, it was revealed. The venue, which comprises the 11,000 seater Echo Arena and the BT Convention Centre, has seen almost 700,000 people pass through its doors. Highlights of the 2008 programme included the European MTV awards in November 2008 – which was watched by an estimated global audience of 1.5 billion people; the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards; La Machine and the Stirling Prize.

Bob Prattey, Chief Executive of ACC Liverpool, said: “2008 was an incredible opening year and the challenge now is to ensure 2009 follows suit. “This is testament to the tremendous effort from everyone involved in the project, who have made this first year such a huge success.” Warren Bradley, leader of Liverpool City Council, added: “For far too long Liverpool lacked a venue capable of staging world class events.

Highlights of 2009’s programme, announced so far, include tours from Lionel Richie, Pink, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton; League darts and boxing alongside alongside blue chip conferences including the Royal College of General Practitioners, The TUC, The NHS Confederation and The Association of British Neurologists. www.accliverpool.com