Olympic Games 2012 Gets Serious

The timetable for preparing the ground for the London Olympics is tight:

• 2005 – start of site preparation and procurement process for main stadium
• 2006 – start of work on aquatic centre
• 2007 – start of work on three western arenas and athletes’ village
• 2008 – start of work on main stadium.

Last July’s announcement that London had won its bid to stage the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games represented the accomplishment of several years’ work by the organisers of London 2012 and partner organisations. Jubilation at the decision has now changed to a focus on the challenges ahead to prepare for the Olympics, and the potential benefits they will bring for years to come.

The City of London was one of the first to ‘Back the Bid’. As well as pledging financial support, it assembled the City Partners consortium, one element of London 2012’s corporate supporter scheme. The consortium was the result of a series of events and briefings to major City businesses to persuade them of the benefits the Games would bring to the capital. The result was more than £l million as a combination of cash, and products and services ‘in kind’.

Much of the exact detail of how the City and the country will benefit from the Games is not yet known. Up until now the focus has been on new investment and how the ‘ripple’ effect would continue long after the Games. This has been borne out in cities that have hosted the Games in the recent past. The 2004 Olympics in Greece brought 65,000 new jobs and an extra €1.22 billion of public-sector revenue. Likewise for the Games in Sydney, New South Wales, where businesses won the equivalent of about £400 million in contracts, with over £115 million for regional companies and 55,000 people receiving employment-related training.

Manchester’s recent experience, hosting the Commonwealth Games, also proved that such events boost a city’s reputation and can prove to be an additional attraction for people and companies to locate there.

Industries such as construction and tourism will be the most obvious to benefit from the Games, but others including manufacturing, retailing, sports, environment, IT and marketing will also be likely to gain and this will have a major impact on local employment and training.

The £17 billion promised investment in London’s transport infrastructure can only benefit the City. People throughout London have identified transport as their biggest concern. With the expected growth in the City’s population – estimated at an extra 70,000 in the next decade – this investment comes at an ideal time. Already the go-ahead has been given for the East London Line extension, an upgrade and extension to the Docklands Light Railway and increased capacity for the Jubilee Line.

This investment will ensure that London 2012 keeps its promise of ten rail lines and three stations serving the Olympic park at Stratford, and being able to transport 240,000 people an hour by 2010. The 12-carriage Olympic Javelin, capable of speeds up to 225 kilometres per hour, will link the Park with King’s Cross St Pancras in just seven minutes. And, although not directly linked to the Games, the Corporation is hopeful that construction will also begin on the long-delayed Crossrail project, which is equally crucial to the capital’s future prosperity.

The investment that the Games will bring to east London will also facilitate regeneration of the City fringe, home to some of the poorest communities in the country, and should bring lasting social, economic and physical changes through education, training and employment, transport, and environment and community development. The bid also highlighted the importance of smaller and medium-sized company involvement – it is not just a jamboree for the usual major players.

Establishing a lasting legacy – locally, nationally and internationally – was a key selling point for the London bid. In its submission London 2012 spelt out its aim to achieve four main legacy benefits:

1. to leave behind world-class sports facilities that meet a clearly defined sporting need and become the heart of existing communities
2. to enhance the opportunities and support available to Britain’s competitors across the range of Olympic and Paralympic sports
3. to drive the regeneration of east London, delivering a high-quality environment for business and opportunities for local people
4. to create a major new urban park – the biggest created in Europe in 150 years.

The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games has now been established and a separate organisation, the Olympic Delivery Authority, is being formed to manage the public money spent on venues and infrastructure.

It will be a very busy time for London over the coming years; the impact on east London and the wider capital before, during and after the Games will be considerable – and for the better. It should be a life-changing, and community-changing, experience.