ACC Liverpool, the waterfront events centre that comprises the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre, has posted a loss for its first full year of trading, the latest accounts show. The city council-owned venue, which has attracted widespread praise for boosting the city’s leisure economy by attracting major concerts and political conferences, reported a turnover of £12.3m for the year to 31 March 2009, but posted a pre-tax loss of £106,200. It had previously announced a small profit of £16,000 in its unaudited accounts. The venue said the year had been “challenging and rewarding” and had demonstrated it can deliver “quality events and be financially viable”. ACC Liverpool has hosted more than 670 events, contributing £400m to the local economy and bringing nearly 1.5 million people to the city since it opened in January 2008. In 2009 alone, it welcomed 652,316 people through its doors.