Dundee’s LiveHouse is set for a £15m expansion after the UK and Scottish governments signed off £50m of Tay Cities Region Deal funding for five projects across the region.
The money would take the Nethergate venue from around 2,000 to 3,500 capacity. Its owners say that would put Dundee on international touring circuits and in conference markets that are out of reach today. The UK Government is contributing £12m and the Scottish Government £3m.
[Link: our earlier story on the LiveHouse expansion plans, URL to add]
From bingo hall to touring venue
LiveHouse opened in the former Mecca Bingo hall in May 2025. It has since brought the Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand and Yungblud to the city, and hosted a fanzone for this summer’s World Cup.
It has also shown it can work as a conference venue. In April it hosted the European Cetacean Society Conference: almost 800 delegates from 46 countries, worth an estimated £1.6m to the region. The venue team say they already have conference enquiries stretching to 2030.
The business case estimates the expansion will bring 75,000 to 85,000 visitors a year, around 50 new jobs and about 100 construction roles. The owners’ longer-term ambition is a venue of around 6,000 capacity.
A reshaped deal
The announcement follows a reworking of the Tay Cities Deal, signed in December 2020. Rising costs, delays and the effects of Covid and Brexit meant some original projects were no longer viable. An open call last December invited new bids, and the joint committee shortlisted five projects from 30 applications in June.
As well as LiveHouse, the money goes to Montrose Port’s offshore wind hub, clean-growth infrastructure at St Andrews University’s Eden Campus, an upgrade of Perth’s Broxden Roundabout, and a new facility for food producer 2 Sisters at Coupar Angus. The full breakdown is below.
Angus Council leader George Meechan, who chairs the Tay Cities Region Deal joint committee, called the approval “an important milestone”. He said the projects show “the strength of collaboration” between regional partners and both governments.
The deal is a £300m commitment, with £150m each from the UK and Scottish governments, and aims to create more than 6,000 jobs. So far £160m has been released, which the partnership says supports 5,300 jobs and has drawn in £253m of private investment.
What happens next
Approval isn’t the final step. Each project still has to complete a full Treasury Green Book business case, approved by both governments and the joint committee, before money is released. Lawyers advising the partnership have also raised competition concerns about the size of the LiveHouse grant. They recommended independent economic analysis and suggested a loan or repayable grant as options. Once those approvals are in place, LiveHouse expects to set out its delivery timetable.
LiveDundee will follow the project as it progresses.
The five projects
| Project | Where | What it pays for | Total | UK Gov | Scottish Gov |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montrose Port Offshore Wind Prioritisation | Montrose | Strengthening the port as a hub for offshore wind operations and maintenance | £15.22m | £12.01m | £3.21m |
| LiveHouse expansion | Dundee | Capacity from 2,000 to 3,500 for touring acts, major events and conferences | £15m | £12m | £3m |
| Clean Growth Co-location, Eden Campus | St Andrews | Infrastructure for clean-growth innovation and early demonstration | £9.887m | £6.887m | £3m |
| Broxden Roundabout Improvement | Perth | Congestion, safety and capacity at a key strategic junction | £6m | — | £6m |
| 2 Sisters Food Group | Coupar Angus | A new facility and farm investment for food and agriculture jobs | £3.75m | — | £3.75m |
