It is hoped the £80 million expansion, which would require public investment, would allow the campus to attract “blockbuster” events and lead to private investors coming on board, including a hotel operator, adding to the 1,500 rooms in the SEC area.

Speaking to The Herald, SEC chief executive Peter Duthie said the new facility would generate significant GVA (Gross Value Added) “which in turn drives tax revenues”.

“With the success of the Hydro the question was ‘what do we do next?’ and the answer came from our conference sales team, who said they were turning some business away that we could get if we had more space and better facilities,” said Mr Duthie.

“Effectively, we are looking at building a new conference centre with an £80m expansion at the east end of the campus.

“We are competing in a global market. Upgrading our facilities would allow us to stage two conferences of scale at the same time and attract some of these bigger blockbuster events.

“The challenge for us is the funding needs to come from government.

“The expanded facility will generate significant GVA, which in turn drives tax revenues, so as a public infrastructure project it will pay for itself quite quickly.”

Mr Duthie, who is also a director of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said the team was looking at various models and hopes the ambition to be Net Zero by 2030 will drive more private investment “including potentially another hotel on the site”.

He added: “The events industry is one in which Scotland and the UK are world leaders. We have a reputation to build on with the success of COP [26 in Glasgow] and other events of that scale.”

He said one of the unintended consequences of the Hydro opening was the regeneration of Finnieston into a “destination in its own right”.

“The reason it happened was that, effectively, the walking route from the west end to the Hydro was through Finnieston,” Mr Duthie said. “So as soon as you start doing that people stop off for drinks and something to eat. The bars and the restaurants suddenly found themselves being very busy. It wasn’t a hip area but is now winning awards all over the world.

“It’s busy now when there’s nothing on at the Hydro. That’s what we are looking to achieve with the conference side.

“There are areas across the water in the south side for development. I think increasing the activity and footfall will help with more hotel opportunities and more restaurants.”