LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Report on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Impact in Lancashire
on
9 May 2008
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1
The Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board is a not for profit company with
Lancashire County Council as one of its three founder members. It gives
strategic leadership to a visitor economy that in 2006 was worth £2.5 billion,
attracted 58 million visitors and employed 49,000 people.
1.2
Lancashire Sport Partnership is part of the Sport England family, representing the
interests and developing the aspirations for Sport and Physical activity across the
County and is supported by Lancashire County Council. It has responsibility for a
network of District based Sport and Physical Activity Alliances (SPAAs) which
commission over £5M of delivery across Lancashire, mainly from Clubs, Coaches
and volunteers.
1.3
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games offer a real chance to boost
the visitor number figures and investment into the County, the Lancashire 2012
Steering Group has been formed to take advantage of the opportunities offered
by this global sporting event.
1.4
Interestingly, it is predicted that 10 million tickets will be sold for the Games
events – 80% within the UK and 20% for visiting spectators i.e. 2 million tickets.
Evidence from previous Games suggests that most spectators will stay for 3-4
days of which 1 or 2 days will be actually watching the Games. Domestic visitors
are predicted to spend on average £73 a day during the Games, whilst figures for
overseas visitors is much higher at £128 per day.
1.5
LBTB last considered the matter at its Board meeting held on 8 May 2007 when a
report on the North West 2012 Legacy Framework was presented. The NWDA
commissioned Deloitte MCS Limited towards the end of 2006 to undertake
research into the potential of the North West to benefit from business
opportunities as a result of the London Games and an Executive Summary was
published in February 2007.
2.
ISSUES
2.1
The Delloite study focused on where the NWDA might gain best return from its
investment in promoting and encouraging those business benefits within the
region. It discusses the Olympic and legacy supply chains and the opportunity to
promote the North West region and its assets on a global stage to visitors and
investors.
2.2
Whilst the main focus of the study was based on business benefits that could be
derived from engaging in the 2012 supply chain, the inherent overlap between
Olympic agendas required the study to consider additional impacts from the
wider Olympic experience. This included the Cultural Olympiad, the visitor
economy and regional image.
2.3
The report set out the strategic context around the 2012 Games and the North
West. It reflects the research and consultation undertaken that had
informed the development of a set of priority themes for the North West to
pursue and considered a range of approaches and interventions to secure
benefits for the North West.
2.4
Deloitte claimed in the report that regionally it is likely that there will be some
benefit for businesses, both through direct and indirect engagement with the
2012 Games Olympiad. Some of these opportunities will be realised by
businesses following their own commercial motives and leveraging existing
relationships and contracts.
2.5
However, others can be significantly optimised and in some cases, only realised,
if the region works proactively and makes strategic and tactical interventions to
engage with the opportunities as they arise and thus ensure that the North West
securers a competitive advantage nationally and internationally, as a result of the
2012 Games.
2.6
The report concluded that the NWDA, public sector partners and companies
based in the region, need to focus largely on developing existing support
programmes through NWDA (and its delivery partners) and on a strong focus on
relationships with the delivery organisations and main procurers. There is a clear
Ministerial aspiration for businesses in the UK regions to benefit, but the route for
achieving this – and specifically how much it will happen through the natural
operation of the market accessing visible and publicised Olympic opportunities,
rather than specific interventions by public sector agencies – is uncertain.
2.7
Relationships with major delivery partners and Olympic bodies may prove to be
the differential here. Information and business support will enable the region’s
businesses to be competitive but won’t significantly differentiate them in the
market place – a proactive approach to marketing goods and services produced
and delivered in the region is required to maximise opportunity for benefit.
2.8
Apart from the core business and supply chain opportunities the report highlights
other arenas in which North West businesses can benefit from the Games (and in
some instances can be at risk of damage from the Games). Therefore, in the
wider context these interventions could include:-
(i)
A strategic approach to creating bespoke 2012 travel packages for
tourists, some based on the staging of Olympic football group Games at
Old Trafford, others on the ease of international entry to and leaving the
UK from Manchester rather than a London airport system under
considerable pressure during the Games.
(ii)
Leveraging the enhanced national and regional profile for a legacy growth
in tourism numbers
(iii)
Maximising the activities taking place in the region for the Cultural
Olympiad, in particular leveraging Liverpool Capital of Culture, to
optimise the local supply chain opportunities, attracting pre Games
training camps to the region and using the 2012 business base to build
the skills of people in the North West.
2.9
A film to promote the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was shot
with the casting team in the North West at the City of Manchester Stadium on 20
April 2007. London 2012 were looking for people from the UK with a story
to tell, from the worthy to the wacky, they wanted to hear from people who have
made a difference – however large or small – whether it is through sport, culture
or education.
3.
ASSESSMENT
3.1
In the recommendations of the Deloitte’s report there are eleven areas, of which
five are of relevance to LBTB and its partners, with the Sports Supply Chain
Legacy Impact being picked up by Lancashire Sport. These are:




Major events
UK Gateway – North West Travel Packages
Football Related
Regional Cultural Olympiad, and
Training Camps
However, before dealing with these five areas in particular, it is worth noting that
the North West 2012 Steering Group has produced a legacy framework
document entitled “Be Inspired” and this was launched at the City of Manchester
Stadium on 11 May 2007. This document picks up similar legacy themes to that
of the Deloitte report, for example Cultural Olympiad, tourism and the visitor
economy, major events, as well as business, skills and volunteering, together
with sport and physical activity. Annex 1 shows members of the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee the latest version of the North West Action Plan and
reporting template for the 2012 Legacy Framework for the period October 2007to
March 2008.
The North West 2012 Steering Group feeds directly into the
Nations and Regions Group of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic
and Paralympic Games and Preston’s Assistant Director of Community and
Leisure Services, along with Lancashire Sports Partnership Chief Executive. sits
on the Group to represent Lancashire’s interests. NWDA has appointed Rob
Young to the position of North West 2012 Co-ordinator.
3.2
The Lancashire 2012 group, Chaired by Dennis Taylor of the Lancashire
Economic Partnership, has pulled together the key strategic partners around the
development of a Cultural Olympiad and legacy for Lancashire. The Lancashire
2012 group is formally recognised as part of the co-ordination and delivery
structure of 2012 by the regional and national Olympic co-ordination bodies. The
Lancashire group have identified Swimming and Cycling being the key Legacy
sports for Lancashire, these Sports together with Football will form the core of the
Olympiad celebrations for Lancashire. Additionally the group have proposed the
development of new ‘Sports Village’ developments across the County in line with
the emerging aspirations of the NWDA and Sport England.
3.3
Leading Sports people from Lancashire have already been identified as Sporting
Ambassadors for the Olympiad to provide a network of Champions for the
County at both local and national events. Lancashire Sport is currently working
with local groups to identify success and good news stories to project the County
on a regional and national level as performing highly and making a significant
contribution to Sport and Great Britain.
3.4
Examples of this contribution include - the success of the Lancashire Gallica
Swimming Team. This junior County team dominate the national finals (winning
60% of all the medals in 2007) and are coached by the Olympian Rob
Greenwood, additionally in Cycling, Lancashire hosts one of the most successful
national teams (Recycling.co.uk) and is home to numerous international and
Olympic level competitors, such as Chris Newton.
3.5
The ‘Sports Village’ concepts are being worked up at the moment, developing the
recommendations of the Regional Facility Strategy to identify which Sports
facilities may be most appropriately located across the region. It is anticipated
that a number of the Sports Villages will link with other large capital initiatives
such as Building Schools for the Future, health facility renewal and investment
into Local Authority Capital Build programmes.
3.6
To facilitate the development of Sports Villages, a new post will be established
with the support of Lancashire County Developments Ltd within the Lancashire
Sport Partnership. This post will support the development of 3 flagship ‘Sport
Villages’ across the County and a number of smaller, more localised initiatives.
3.7
Now onto specifics referred to in paragraph 3.1 above starting with the North
West major events strategy, which builds on the region’s proven track record of
delivering world-class events and its reputation as the region for sport. In
Lancashire the decision of the R & A to stage the Open Golf championship at
Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club in 2012 is a massive coup for the County.
Coupled with this 2012 sees the next Preston Guild take place – an event
repeated every 20 years and Blackpool plans to see more major events linked to
their new 365 themed programme.
3.8
Packaging the Region is clearly an opportunity for the sub-region with the post
Games period the most significant. With Deloitte’s emphasising that only 25% of
the forecast spend by sports visitors is expected to be shared by the rest of the
UK outside London, but VisitBritain claiming that 75% of the anticipated £2 billion
of tourism benefit being concentrated between 2013 and 2017. There clearly are
opportunities from pre Games business tourism, in particular from Olympic and
team officials staying in the region.
3.9
A further opportunity exists with football related initiatives to attract football
specific tourists to the County before, during and after the Games. Manchester
United’s Old Trafford ground will be hosting four of the group fixtures and a link
with the National Football Museum (NFM) in Preston and the County’s football
league clubs will be explored. The NFM is planning to create the world’s first
exhibition on football in the Olympic and Paralympic Games to tie into 2012,
with the chance for other museum and galleries to follow suit offering real
potential.
3.10
The National Football Museum are also putting together proposals with other
major sports museums in the UK to create a bespoke website and hold a number
of high profile touring exhibitions in the build up and as part of the legacy for
London 2012. They have formed the Sports Heritage Network and this clearly
compliments the work LBTB has been pursuing in creating its own heritage
cluster around the Lancashire Heritage Attractions Network which has continued
to meet quarterly for the past two years.
3.11
Another key area is the Cultural Olympiad and establishing a regional one with
the hook of Liverpool European Capital of Culture that will kick start the four year
national Cultural Olympiad in 2008 – around 145 days away on the week-end of
September 26-28. VisitBritain have also identified 2008 as the Year of Culture
and looking to develop specific themes such as “Be part of it” and “Behind
the Scenes” with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport placing in each of
England’s eight regions outside of London their own “Creative Programmer”,
to encourage arts and cultural bodies to get involved. In this region the person
appointed is Debbie Lander and she can be contacted on
[email protected]
3.12
The handing over of the Olympic torch by Beijing to London on Sunday 24
August 2008 is the obvious catalyst and Blackpool’s plans to develop a major
festivals and events strategy has already begun to look at tying into the
Liverpool 08 events programme where appropriate. One hundred days before
the start of the London Games a torch relay will begin and the County will need
to be involved in the route through the North West Region.
3.13
The final area is to market Lancashire to Olympic teams to attract pre games
training camps into the County and work on this has already begun with
Blackpool and Preston bidding to host training camps. Seventy-three North West
sporting venues appeared in the official London 2012 pre-Games Training Camp
Guide published in March 2008 – nine in the County – highlighting the region’s
world class facilities and heralding the region as a centre of sporting excellence.
If successful, the knock on effect of promoting the area to potential visitors and
inward investors, jointly with the Lancashire Economic Partnership and other
sub-regional players, is an obvious one. The concept of local authorities
“adopting a country” proved extremely popular during the Commonwealth Games
in 2002 in Greater Manchester and capitalising on the student market in the
County, offers real potential.
3.14
To conclude the North West is likely to actively promote and publicise itself as
the “legacy” region – it has already been mentioned earlier in the report that 75%
of the tourism benefit will accrue between 2013 and 2017, not during the Games
itself and other opportunities clearly exist to work more closely with VisitBritain
and the London Tourist Board. The main message has to be to operators in
Lancashire and Blackpool that the Games begin in 2008 not 2012 with the
involvement of Liverpool 08, so time is really of the essence.
Companies interested in involving themselves now in the London 2012 Games
need to register for e-alerts on the Games and look at the official website
www.london2012.com
3.15
Whilst the hosting of the 2012 Games will have a massive impact on the UK’s
tourism industry, particularly London, previous Games research shows that this
sector will be second only to construction in terms of the number of employment
opportunities created (either directly or indirectly) from the event. There is
expected to be high competition for labour at Games-time, not only within the
sector but also from other sectors that require skilled managers and customer
service operatives. The experience of previous Games suggest that robust staff
retention strategies need to be well developed before the summer of 2012 to
achieve the goal of consistent service levels throughout the Games period any
beyond.
4.
RECOMMENDATION
4.1
To receive the views of the elected members on the Overview and Scrutiny
committee on the information contained in this report.
Mike Wilkinson
Chief Executive
Lancashire and Blackpool
Tourist Board
Rob Young
North West Co-ordinator
for the 2012 Games
Adrian Leather
Chief Executive
Lancashire Sport
Partnership
Background Papers

The London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Maximising Business
Opportunities for the North West – Deloitte MC S Limited, February 2007

“Be Inspired” North West 2012 Legacy Framework – March 2007

Department for Culture, Media and Sport news release dated 2 April 2007 – 2012
Cultural Olympiad moves up a gear as plans to create regional ‘Creative
Programmers’ are unveiled.