A great celebration needs a great venue.
And that’s exactly what Arc Marquees of Perth are determined to provide as The Courier Business Awards come to the heart of Dundee for the first time on October 29.
The black tie event, held in association with chartered accountants Henderson Loggie, is set to be a sell-out and will take place in a purpose-built marquee in the grounds of the Apex City Quay Hotel.
Providing the venue for the largest business event of the year in East Central Scotland is no small feat – even for an experienced operator like Arc.
Operations manager Andrew Duncan said there would only be a handful of highly prestigious events in the whole of Scotland that require such a grand build.
Initial works for the main marquee build in the Apex’s car park begin tomorrow and the cavernous complex will slowly emerge over the next week.
Once erected, the temporary structure will be 45 metres long by 25 metres wide and more than 500 floorboards will be required to provide the perfect platform for dinner and dancing.
Mr Duncan estimated the value of the complete marquee would be in the region of £350,000.
“It will take three or four days for the main build,” Mr Duncan said.
“We rock up on Thursday and we’ll be looking to get the marquee up and covered as soon as possible.”
Arc – which has previously provided marquees for music festivals and blue-chip clients such as fashion house Dior – said the end result would be a striking addition to Dundee waterfront.
“It is an impressive structure,” Mr Duncan said.
“People passing by in the morning will see an empty car park and a few hours later there will be a huge marquee.
“That’s when the nice stuff comes, the cloth lining, the lighting rig and we put in the stage ready for the awards.
“While this is not a unique size of marquee for us, there will perhaps only be two or three of this size go up in Scotland this year.
“Once it is up it’ll be set up for the best event on the Tay since the return of the RRS Discovery.”
Star of stage and screen Gyles Brnadreth will grace the marquee stage as awards host for 2016.
He will oversee proceedings as a total of 19 awards are handed out to the best in business in Tayside and Fife.