City venue's £85m plans

BOSSES at Edinburgh's leading conference venue have been given permission to take forward a major £85 million expansion.

Work is due to start on the expansion of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre by the end of next month after councillors agreed to the appointment of Sir Robert McAlpine.

The expansion will include a new underground events space and office building above.

City leader Jenny Dawe said: "The EICC has been an prize asset for the people of Edinburgh and over the next 30 years the expanded business is forecast to return an estimated 2.4 billion of economic benefit to the city".

EICC chief executive, Hans Rissmann said: "Our expansion space raises the bar."