Olympic preparations on track, says London 2012 sponsors

With just over 600 days to go before the 30th Olympiad takes place in London, key sponsors of the London 2012 Games including Coca Cola, adidas, Deloitte and GE, have given their thumbs up to preparations and the latest developments at the Olympic site.

At a meeting of the Chairman’s Club, a collective of the Worldwide, Tier 1 and Tier 2 level Partners of London 2012, held at the Olympic site last week, sponsors welcomed the strong progress made in the last 12 months.

John Connolly, Global Chairman of Deloitte, said: “Everyone who attended the meeting was struck by the evident progress made on the site. The Olympic Delivery Authority and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, working in conjunction with the Government, the London Mayor’s Office, business and other stakeholders, are clearly ahead in the delivery of the venues – in one case by months.”

Mr Connolly commented that the leading sponsors were confident that the London 2012 family would be successful as the pace builds up: “Everyone now working on the Games is moving into delivery mode. The Chairman’s Club members reviewed progress and toured the Velodrome. We left the site with real confidence that the infrastructure is in good shape, the shift from planning to operations is being very carefully managed, and the Games will achieve their ambitions. We were impressed by the strong relationships between the main players – Seb Coe and Paul Deighton at LOCOG, John Armit and his ODA team, the very clear commitment of Jeremy Hunt at Cabinet level, and Boris Johnson, leading the city of London’s contribution. This provides extra confidence not just that the plans are in shape but that any delivery challenges still to come will be tackled and resolved collectively.”

Created in 2008 by Deloitte and Think London, the Mayor’s Foreign Direct Investment Agency, the Chairman’s Club brings together some of the world’s most experienced business leaders from companies with combined global sales of more than $1.2 trillion, and employing over two and a half million people.

The establishment of the Chairman’s Club is the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that a group of lead sponsor companies have come together as a single group ahead of an Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“It’s vitally important that the business community works in collaboration to ensure that London and the UK benefits from a sustainable legacy following the Games,” said Mr Connolly.

Seb Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, who attended last week’s business summit, said that the effort of sponsors was crucial as preparations for the Games intensified.

“The sponsor family is absolutely vital to the success of London 2012,” said Lord Coe. “The Games would not be able to happen without the products, services, support and consumer programmes they provide.”

Michael Charlton, Chief Executive of Think London, thanked the members of the Chairman’s Club for their support and partnership. Using the 2012 Games as a catalyst Think London, with the support of these partners, has helped create over 3,700 jobs for Londoners as a direct result of 2012 campaigns.