London 2012 blog

The 'Famous Five' Host Boroughs next to the Olympic Park (Hackney, Waltham Forest, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets and Newham) may well be the heart of the Games but just slightly further east lies the London Borough of Redbridge. Recently I was honoured to help the local community show off its support for the London 2012 Games by demonstrating how the legacy of the Games is really working in the outer Boroughs and off the Olympic Park.

I was invited to Chair the launch of the London Borough of Redbridge’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Strategy at probably one of the best kept venue secrets from the Games... the Redbridge Cycling Centre, where we showcased Redbridge’s total support and passion for the Games and real 'join-up' across the community.

We invited politicians, council officers, social entrepreneurs and business owners from across the Borough to hear the opportunities the Games could offer. As ever, an excellent presentation on CompeteFor from the London Business Network CEO Mike Mulvey, opened the eyes of everyone present about the simplicity of doing business with the Games.

As a result, I think we’ve introduced the local authority to CompeteFor as a really simple way of encouraging small and medium enterprises (SME’s) to do business with them (and each other) and more importantly, on a local level (fingers crossed)!

But what the event really demonstrated was the true power of the Games legacy.

The venue - the Redbridge Cycling Centre (RCC) - is the UK’s FIRST legacy project to come from the Games. Built as a result of the relocation of the Eastway Cycle Track from a site just south of Eton Manor on the Olympic Park, the RCC is a magnificent £4.5m world-class on-road and off-road cycle track, discreetly built on top of Hog Hill, Hainault and was opened earlier this year by Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. As well as some exciting food from a local south Asian event catering company -who just happened to be the 10,000th businesses to sign-up on CompeteFor - we were treated to some truly breathtaking and uniquely, iconic views of the whole of central and east London and the Thames Gateway skyline at night.

As Redbridge often struggles to find its place on the map of east London and the Thames Gateway, the launch was superbly supported by Lee Scott MP for Ilford North with the strategy formerly launched by the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and the Olympics, Cllr Linda Huggett and this event really did the Borough proud!

The launch of the Council’s strategy to the Borough’s predominantly small and micro-business community, sets down a really solid marker and clearly demonstrates the Borough’s commitment to how Games-related procurement might help small businesses survive in what is likely to be a rocky few years for the economy.

With simple tools in place like CompeteFor, an London 2012-passionate local business base and a close proximity to the Olympic Park, Redbridge is now well and truly on the right road to understanding the need to engage more openly with their local business community, too.

Redbridge’s business community has always been firmly behind Games-related business opportunities and, with closer partnership work with Games organisers and buyers, I’m confident we’ll all get real, tangible spin-offs from the employment opportunities, an improving skills base and an unprecedented involvement of businesses in the volunteering arenas the Games are creating.

Redbridge and the other Outer Borough’s really are enterprising... just come and ask!