British Business Embassy days - Global sports breakfast

The Breakfast was held at London House – the temporary name of City Hall during the Olympics and Paralympics. It opened with brief addresses from Gordon Innes, CEO of London & Partners and Lord Green, Minister for Trade and Investment, followed by a keynote speech from Lord Bell, Chairman, Bell Pottinger Private (BPP Communications) and a panel discussion that included views of forthcoming sporting event hosts.

The issues raised at the breakfast were explored in more detail at the Global Sports Summit on 5 September. Points made at the two events covered:

• Lessons from putting on London 2012 – ranging from the importance of volunteers, to the opportunities to ‘rebranding’ the host country; from the challenges of having a home team in every Olympic sport, to the use of detailed data to assess and address infrastructure security issues;
• Lessons from the construction of London 2012 facilities – ranging from the use of temporary venues and seating, to the crucial importance of venue legacy; from the major role and challenges of providing audiovisual facilities and power at venues, to the cost of making venues sustainable;
• Ideas for maximising the customer and sponsorship revenue from sports events;
• Ways in which UK firms can take advantage of business opportunities with future sporting events in the UK and overseas, especially through Host2Host;
• Advice on opportunities at Glasgow 2014, Rio 2016 and Taipei 2017.