With one year to go, London is now ready to host the 2012 Games – and to deliver a legacy that will create jobs and investment opportunities for Spanish companies
With one year to go until the start of the 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games on 27 July 2012, London is now ready to stage the “Greatest Show on Earth”.
Imaginative planning, design and construction by leading British companies have resulted in the completion of world-class Olympic facilities, and ensured sporting, environmental and economic benefits that will transform the east of London in the decades ahead.
The legacy of the 2012 Games will create major opportunities for Spanish and other foreign companies to invest in one of the world’s true global cities. Britain wants to attract overseas companies to expand and set up new businesses, creating jobs and prosperity for the UK economy.
London 2012 has launched ‘London Prepares’, a major programme to test the now finished Olympic facilities over the coming months. More than 40 world-class sports events - including volleyball, cycling, sailing, rowing and canoeing - will bring top athletes to experience the new Olympic venues and existing sports locations.
At an event today (20 July) in Madrid hosted jointly by the Spanish Olympic Committee and the British Embassy, HM Ambassador to Spain, Giles Paxman, said:
“Britain is a country that delivers what it promises. A year ahead of the Games, London is ready. We look forward to inviting Spain’s elite athletes and to welcoming Spanish companies to see for themselves the transformation of east London and the investment opportunities that are being created.
“These Games will deliver an impressive triple legacy of world-class sporting facilities, major environmental improvements and huge economic opportunities that – like Barcelona in 1992 - will transform the city and attract huge amounts of investment in the decades ahead.”
With one year to go, the main facilities of the Olympic Park are all finished, including the Olympic Stadium, Velodrome, Basketball Arena, Aquatics Centre and Athletes’ Village.
FCC Construcción of Spain is fitting out the International Broadcast and Media Centre that will house 20,000 journalists during the Games. Afterwards the Centre will be converted and offer more than 80,000 m2 of high-quality business space.
Major transport improvements that will keep London moving during the Games have been completed, including Stratford station as the main gateway to the Olympic Park. Ten different rail routes serve the station, transforming a poorly-served area into one of the best connected parts of the capital.
The strong emphasis London has put on sustainability means the 2012 Olympics will deliver a major environmental legacy. After the Games, the Olympic Park will become one of London’s most important regeneration projects for the next 25 years, and a catalyst for the transformation of east London.
It will have five world-class sports venues, 2,800 new homes set around open spaces and waterways, modern utilities and communications infrastructure networks, greatly improved transport connections, and Europe’s largest indoor shopping centre. Nearby Tech City in east London is already home to one of the largest concentrations of fast growing digital technology companies in Europe, up from 15 firms in 2008 to over 300 today.
HM Ambassador Giles Paxman said: “The Olympic Park and surrounding areas offer enormous potential for Spanish and other international companies to invest – regenerating the area and building new businesses in what will soon be one of the most modern, vibrant areas of Britain.”
More information and photos of the event are available at the Spanish Olympic Committee’s website…
http://www.coe.es/web/noticias.nsf/VNoticias/42E57FE112C6C6B6C12578D30039F45A
For media enquiries, contact:
Press Office
British Embassy Madrid
917 146 363 / 4
