Work on a new £60 million events and exhibition venue at Bluewater starts next month.

The project will create around 600 jobs, with a further 100 permanent and temporary jobs when the complex opens late next year.

The Bluewater Events Venue (BEV) is being plugged into the main shopping area alongside the cinema in the area known as the Water Circus.

The 32,000 sq ft two-storey centre will accommodate thousands of people for consumer shows and business events. There will be smaller areas for VIP receptions and award ceremonies. The project also expands and upgrades catering, restaurant and public space.

BEV is the second expo centre planned for the county. Earlier this month, Kent County Agricultural Society announced that the Detling showground would be given an £8m facelift to attract more events.

BEV has been designed by international architects Denton, Corker Marshall, a practice founded in Melbourne in 1972 and now operating in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. It was responsible for Stonehenge Visitor Centre. Construction firm BAM is the main contractor.

Bluewater owners Lend Lease, the Prudential, Hermes and others are pumping money into the project. "It is a huge investment that underlines a great commitment to Bluewater," said general manager Andrew Parkinson.

He said BEV was an exciting development that took Bluewater, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, to a different level.

"This will be completely integrated into the main mall area, we’re not building a box but something that will be very much part of Bluewater," he said.

Lifestyle and other consumer shows throughout the year will aim to appeal to Bluewater’s 28 million visitors and increase their 'dwell time' in the shopping centre. With Bluewater close to Ebbsfleet International Station, there will also be scope for European shows.

Jeremy Kite, leader of Dartford council, welcomed the move. He said: “Bluewater is a fantastic catalyst for good in the area, not just in terms of creating opportunities for local people and businesses, but for demonstrating on an international scale what can be achieved by the public and private sectors haveing a shared sense of scale and ambition.”

Meanwhile, Bluewater sales were up 7.6 per cent in December over the same month a year earlier, higher than the national average of a six per cent rise in retail sales.