Olympic Park corporate real estate should be staffed with locals

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Occupiers of corporate real estate in the Olympic Park are urged to employ locals

By Ashley Brunskill

A new report urges occupiers of corporate real estate at the London 2012 Olympic Park to employ local people wherever possible in order to ensure that the city benefits from the legacy of the sporting spectacular.

Legacy Limited? A review of the Olympic Park Legacy Company's role, published this week by the London Assembly Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee, notes the differences between the development in London and the way the Commonwealth Games in Manchester were staged in 2002.

There, a single organisation was given responsibility for not only the event itself, but also the legacy of the Games, with Manchester City Council ensuring that the developments involved in the preparations would be lucrative in the future.

In London, however, at least four different groups share responsibility for similar obligations - with the report's authors arguing that this risks diluting the focus of legacy aspirations that any one governing body holds.

To overcome this, the report recommends that corporate real estate - such as the Olympic Park's media centre - should be staffed with local people once the Games are over.

Committee chair Dee Doocey comments: "A strong legacy of skills, housing, employment and sports participation is the only way to stop the Olympic Park becoming an island of prosperity, cut off from the surrounding community."

Source: ask-re The Property People LLP