London 2012 Sponsors Happy with Olympic Preparations

(ATR) Sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics including Coca Cola, adidas, Dow and GE have welcomed the strong progress being made in preparations for the Games.

Worldwide, tier one and tier two partners of London 2012 voiced their satisfaction with the latest developments at a meeting of the Chairman’s Club, the collective of lead sponsor companies for the Games set up by Deloitte and Think London two years ago.

Attending the meeting were representatives of Coca Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, BMW, Dow, GE, McDonalds, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, VISA, adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF Energy, Lloyds Banking Group, Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS.

Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 organizing committee, said that the effort of sponsors was crucial as preparations for the Games intensified.

"The sponsor family is absolutely vital to the success of London 2012," he said.

"The Games would not be able to happen without the products, services, support and consumer programs they provide."

Also in attendance was Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport.

"It is really great that so many British and international companies are doing so much to support London’s Olympic and Paralympic Games," he said.

"As well as showing real commitment to the Games, the sponsors are helping to boost the number of people playing sport, which will be a lasting legacy from London 2012."

John Connolly, global chairman of Deloitte, said everyone who attended the meeting was struck by the progress made on the Olympic Park in east London.

"The Olympic Delivery Authority and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, working in conjunction with the Government, the London Mayor’s Office, business and other stakeholders, are clearly ahead in the delivery of the venues – in one case by months."

Connolly said LOCOG's sponsors were confident in the pace of preparations and the ultimate success of London 2012.

"Everyone now working on the Games is movinginto delivery mode. The Chairman’s Club members reviewed progress and toured the velodrome," he said.

"We left the site with real confidence that the infrastructure is in good shape, the shift from planning to operations is being very carefully managed, and the Games will achieve their ambitions."

Connolly said the group of sponsors "were impressed by the strong relationships between the main players – Seb Coe and Paul Deighton at LOCOG, John Armitt and his ODA team, the very clear commitment of Jeremy Hunt at Cabinet level, and Boris Johnson, leading the city of London’s contribution"

"This provides extra confidence not just that the plans are in shape but that any delivery challenges still to come will be tackled and resolved collectively," he added.

The establishment of the Chairman’s Club is the first time in the history of the Olympics that a group of lead sponsor companies have come together as a single group ahead of an Olympic Games.

As well as their contribution to LOCOG's $3.2 billion budget for staging the Olympics, which also includes money from ticket sales, London 2012's partners are providing thousands of skilled personnel to help deliver the Games and helping to create a lasting legacy.

In the U.K., programs created by 2012 sponsors have already helped hundreds of thousands of people to participate in sport and get involved with volunteering opportunities.

Nearly half a million people, participating in around 1,900 events, got on their bikes for Team Green Britain 2010 Bike Week, part of EDF Energy’s London 2012 sustainability campaign. And more than 100,000 children are making use of adidas’ adiZone outdoor gyms, 40 of which have now been rolled out across the country after a successful pilot in 2008.

Withreporting from Mark Bisson

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