Nestled in a beautiful Perthshire glen and surrounded by the Ochill hills, when Gleneagles opened in 1924 it was described as 'a Riviera in the Highlands'. Today the foreboding 270-room hotel and its 850 acre-grounds are world-renowned as a premier golfing resort and a base for other country sports. It operates the Gleneagles Shooting School (nominally clay pigeon although the estate is full of pheasants), the Equestrian Centre and the British School of Falconry.

Gleneagles is no stranger to prestigious international events. The Commonwealth heads of Government gathered there in 1977. In 1986 it hosted the Bilderberg conference, an annual private gathering of leading world figures who meet in the country hosting the G8 Summit.1 In 1992 NATO Defence ministers also converged on the luxury hotel. Admittedly, things will have changed in terms of security procedure, due to both 9-11 and the now-customary summit protests. Gleneagles is important: in terms of prestige, and also to the Scottish economy, attracting wealthy golf and country sports enthusiasts. It is part of the 'Leading Hotels of the World' group which includes the Parc Royal in Evian, France, which hosted the 2003 G8 Summit.

Gleneagles is less than 50 miles from both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. Great North Eastern Railway services stop at Gleneagles Station, on the main London to Inverness line and across the A9 from the Gleneagles estate. The current exclusion zone includes the estate and part of Auchterarder town, but it could be extended. Military airports nearby include RAF Leuchars, near St. Andrews, which is two minutes' flight away. There is currently no heliport at Gleneagles, although the local Strathallan airfield has been mentioned in connection with the G8.2

The Gleneagles website has detailed information about the 'state of the art' conference facilities awaiting the G8 leaders, with an in-house support team to make sure the event goes smoothly – from lighting technicians to resident florists and cutting edge multimedia equipment. Working with Edinburgh-based event organiser, 'Prompt Events', they have a number of different musicians and other entertainment on tap, from traditional Scottish music to big band and salsa. Gleneagles also has its own pipe band.

In Autumn 2002 Gleneagles built Braid house, adding a further 59 rooms and an extra four conference rooms. On the estate is also the 'hamlet' of Glenmor: 50 time-share villas which are also likely be pressed into service for the G8. The most magnificent suite at Gleneagles is the Royal Lochnagar Suite; one wonders how the decision will be made as to which of the world leaders will be bedding down there! VisitScotland will be bringing its £1m mobile 'village' to the G8 Summit at Gleneagles. The two-storey structure is half the size of a football pitch and needs six 40-wheel trucks to transport it. It has exhibition space, bars and restaurants able to cater for up to 300 diners, as well as toilets and changing rooms for staff.3

Around 100 of Gleneagles' 600 or so staff are accommodated in a purpose-built block. This includes golf caddies, chauffeurs, staff for three restaurants and a bar as well as the kitchen. The rest live locally or commute. While it is understood Gleneagles won't be taking on any extra staff for the summit, the organisers may need to employ extra drivers and translators. It is likely that the staff will be moved out of the hotel to Crieff for the G8.

To host the 1,200 delegates, staff and security personnel, it is likely that the G8 summit will rely on support from Edinburgh and Perth (15m away) and nearby towns such as Auchterarder (1.5m), Comrie and Crieff as well as other villages in Strathearn. Auchterarder (pop. 4,100) is known locally as 'The Lang Toon', a name derived from its extended high street. There are several country house hotels in Auchterarder. Crieff, the biggest town in the Strathearn valley, has a population of 6,000 and has been a holiday resort since Victorian times. There are several large five-star hotels in and around Crieff. Stirling (21m away) will provide the venue for the world's media as they cover the summit.

In a leaked memo entitled 'Making the G8 Summit sustainable', Downing Street officials proposed a serious greenwash campaign to make the Summit appear eco-friendly, with solar panels, recycling and hydrogen cars to ferry around the delegates. Cosmetic changes clearly outweigh any serious positive changes for the global environment in the minds of the organisers of the event.4

In the area immediately around Gleneagles there is much of interest for the G8 leaders if they choose a quiet day away from the summit. Local castles and stately homes include the aptly named Blair Castle (seat of the Duke of Atholl, the only British subject allowed to maintain a private army), and ancient coronation site Scone Palace, now home to the Earls of Mansfield. Opportunities for whisky tasting abound with nearby distilleries including the Bell's Blair Atholl Distillery and the Famous Grouse Experience in Crieff. The massive drinks multinational that bought Gleneagles hotel, Diageo Plc, also owns numerous whisky distilleries in Scotland.

According to security experts, Gleneagles was chosen over the Isle of Skye because it has greater facilities and accommodation, and despite not being an island it will be easy to defend:

There is only one major road running past it (the A823) which can be easily blocked at both ends without any real disruption to the local community...The exit off the A9 dual carriageway can simply be closed for three days. There are minor roads coming in from the west but they can be shut too. It has a long perimeter around the golf courses but that can easily be defended. Apart from that there are no high buildings overlooking the site so the authorities have no worries on that score and everyone of importance can be contained in the one area. Also, if strangers turn up in the area, locals will notice and be able to alert the very heavy police presence on hand. When you think about it, apart from an island, there really isn’t a better place to hold a high-security summit like this. The days of G8 summits in urban locations are now gone. 5

Tayside police have announced that 'access passes' (ID cards) will be issued to around 500 local residents in Auchterarder, including children. This is part of the £150 million security operation around the G8, which will turn the town into a 'sterile zone' with high metal fencing, concrete blast barriers and an air exclusion zone. The cards will permit locals to pass through roadblocks and checkpoints. All police leave has been cancelled for early July, with 9,000 out of 15,000 police in Scotland expected to police the 'ring of steel' around the Summit venue, joined by Lancashire forces, and there are rumours of missile batteries being placed on the golf courses 'to intercept terrorists'.

Understandably, local opinion is fairly mixed on the Summit coming to their doorstep, with outspoken local Scottish Nationalist MSP for Perth, Roseanna Cunningham, regularly condemning the disruption the event will bring. Speaking of the ID cards she said, 'This is an absolute outrage and I cannot see how it can be unilaterally imposed on local people'.6 Others will surely feel that the costs of the entire extravaganza could be put to better use in tackling global poverty.

Private contracts for running the event

While Gleneagles is well equipped to host the Summit, through in-house facilities and existing partnerships with private companies, it is likely that outside contracts will be awarded for some aspects of the event. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), in charge of hosting the event, has advertised the first service to go out to tender - the role of host broadcaster and the creation of a media centre. The contract has been won by Jack Morton Worldwide, a US-based 'experiential marketing' agency who have held previous contracts for the G8 and G7, as well as for the Athens Olympics.

The contract was advertised via the European Union, which makes successful contractors public within 48 days of the contract being awarded. Contracts awarded that are not advertised via the EU should also be published, subject to confidentiality.7

The FCO and Tayside police have also announced that they will need outside sources of vehicles and of equipment, such as telephones and IT, and they are hoping that some of this may be provided by sponsorship from the private sector.8

In the short term, the other main commercial opportunities are likely to lie in big spending by attendees (1,200 delegates and 3,000 media will be using local hotels, restaurants and transport), and in supplying the main contractors. Business opportunities will be advertised, where possible, through the Business Gateway and Perth and Kinross Council’s G8 website.9

The tourism industry will also clearly benefit from the huge numbers of expected protesters, and operators have recently stated that they will be providing weekend breaks for 'middle class' protesters planning to come to Scotland.10 As campaigners we have the responsibility to support small local businesses where the money will actually circulate in the local economy, rather than the big corporations who dominate the tourism industry in Scotland such as the Best Western and Hilton hotel chains.

References
1.Rumour has it that Bilderberg group will meet at Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, Bucks. in 2005.
2.G8 Summit 2005 Gleneagles, 'Residents and Businesses', www.perthshireg8.com/?node_id=1.4, last viewed 08.03.05
3.'£1 million pavilion off round the world' Daily Record 14.01.2005
4.Rob Edwards, 'Global summit accused of Eco-fakery', Glasgow Herald, 12.09.04, www.sundayherald.com/44750, last viewed 08.03.05
5.Jeremy Watson, 'Gleneagles is turned into a summit 'Sterile' Zone'. Scotland on Sunday 13.06.04 http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=449&id=670752004, last viewed 08.03.05
6.Steven Ventura, 'Summit ID cards for kids aged 8' The Daily Record 28.12.04 www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_objectid=15018510&method=full&siteid=89488-name_page.html,last viewed 08.03.05
7.www.g8.gov.uk (OJEC Ref 04/S 202-173122/EN)
8.'Procurement opportunities', www.g8.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1101395179495, last viewed 31.03.05
9.Business Gateway website, www.bgateway.com, last viewed 08.03.05; G8 Summit 2005 Gleneagles, see note 91.
10.BBC News, 'Plan to cash in on G8 Protestors', 14.02.05, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4265357.stm, last viewed 08.05.03