Turning the Games into Gold: Government announces almost £10 billion economic boost from London 2012

The UK economy has seen a £9.9bn trade and investment boost from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, one year into a four-year programme of activity and events.

The boost comes from businesses securing contract wins, additional sales and new foreign investment in the last year, since UKTI’s British Business Embassy at Lancaster House hosted a Global Investment Conference and a series of 17 business events – the largest such programme ever held in Britain.

Further evaluation reports published by the Government and Mayor of London today (19 July) show strong progress against all the legacy commitments including:

An increase in volunteering, halting the steady decline seen since 2005 - today an event on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will kick start a summer of ‘Join In’ activity to encourage people to volunteer locally;
1.4 million more people playing sport at least once a week than in 2005 when the bid was won;
The legacy of all the permanent venues on the Olympic Park secured within a year of the Games – the park has started to reopen this summer with major sports, music and cultural events;
An independent report projects that the total benefit to the UK from hosting London 2012 could reach up to £41 billion by 2020;
£4bn of investment into London, including projects outside the scope of UKTI figures;
70,000 workless Londoners helped into Games-related employment creating a labour market legacy.

Prime Minister David Cameron said:

“This £9.9 billion boost to the UK economy is a reminder to the world that, if you want the best, if you want professionalism, if you want jobs done on time and on budget then you should think British.

“With companies across the country we are harnessing the Olympic momentum and delivering the lasting business legacy of the Games that will help make Britain a winner in the global race.

“But that’s not where the good news ends. The games are also delivering a strong social legacy. Last summer, Games Makers changed the way Britain views volunteering. Since then, thousands of people have been inspired to get involved with their local sports clubs. Tonight in the park, Join In will launch a summer of events, which will unleash an army of 500,000 people up and down the country to turn up, take part and Join In.”
Trade and Investment

UKTI’s target is to deliver £11bn of economic benefit from the London 2012 Games by July 2016, from additional exports, investment into the UK and successful bids for high-value international contracts in a number of sectors.

One year on the London Olympic and Paralympic Games have helped to generate:

£9.9bn of economic benefit so far, including:

£5.9bn of additional sales from Olympic-related activity such as the British Business Embassy;
£2.5bn of additional inward investment into the UK since the Games generating more than 31,000 new jobs, with 58% of the value invested outside London;
£1.5bn of Olympic-related high value opportunities won overseas.

These figures include £120m of contracts already won by UK companies for the Brazil 2014 World Cup and Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, plus more than 60 contracts won by UK companies for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 Russia World Cup.

Russell Jones, UKTI South West regional director, said:

“This time last year the nation, and indeed the South West, became the epicentre for the world’s top athletes. Business leaders also capitalised on the great networking opportunities emanating from the London 2012 Games, and hundreds of businesses attended events to showcase the South West and explore overseas trade opportunities.”

One of the many discussions held at UKTI’s British Business Pavilion in Weymouth included the barriers that UK-based games developers faced when working with platform developers in South Korea.

Following this discussion, UKTI arranged for Mike Hawkyard of games developer 4T2 Multimedia, and committee member of TIGA – the trade organisation that represents the UK Games Industry – to meet with influential players during G-Star 2012, the industry’s flagship event in south east Asia. With further assistance from UKTI, Mike has since visited Seoul and Busan, and produced proposals to lead a select group of respected games development companies from the UK to visit G-Star this year. A delegation of 12 companies from Korea also visited the UK earlier this month to gain an overview of the industry in the UK and introduce them to games development companies.

Russell added:

“This is just one example of the strides that are being made by South West companies to develop international business opportunities. The value of the contracts that could be generated from this initiative are potentially huge – running into millions of pounds for the UK companies involved. I’m delighted and proud that this potential has emanated from the British Business Pavilion last year.”

“There is a huge appetite for British products and services across the world and the South West has an abundance of heritage and expertise which international markets are keen to tap into. The London 2012 Games provided a great platform on which to build and I’m delighted to see so many of the region’s businesses take up the international trade challenge. In fact, we are also working with a number of companies on the ‘High Impact in Brazil’ programme who have their sights set on contracts for Rio 2016, for which we are organising a first trade mission later this year.”

Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

“There is no doubt that the London 2012 Games proved a success story for British business. This has created a multi-billion pound business springboard to take British expertise to the world, and UKTI is working hard to make the most of this significant opportunity.

“UKTI has embraced the challenge of delivering £11 billion of economic benefit from the Olympics. Reaching £9.9bn in the space of one year is an amazing achievement. I hope that companies of all sizes up and down the country follow suit and use the positive impact generated by the Games to reach out to new markets and grow their businesses."

In the coming years, UKTI will continue to work to maximise the boost to jobs, trade and investment, strengthening its sector capability with the creation of the Automotive, Offshore Wind and Financial Services Investment Organisations.

Activities including the Graduate Entrepreneur Campaign will help to attract the brightest global entrepreneurs to the UK and help UK-based companies to access high value opportunities across the world in sectors such as sustainable cities, urban renewal and sustainable design as well as major sporting events. These include future Olympic and Paralympic Games and World Cups.

Preliminary UK annual investment figures announced in May showed that in the year of the Games, the UK maintained its position as the leading destination in Europe for foreign direct investment.

In London, figures published by the Mayor of London show that major projects secured in the last year such as the investment in Royal Albert Docks and Battersea Power Station have brought £4bn of new investment to the capital, including projects outside the scope of UKTI’s report.
Wider legacy

According to independent research from a consortium led by Grant Thornton, published by DCMS, up to £41 billion could be realised over the fifteen year period from when London won the bid in 2005 to 2020. The report predicts continued benefits from tourism, trade and inward investment as the Games helped improve the world’s view of Britain.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller said:

“London 2012 showed the very best of Britain and hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games has delivered huge economic benefits to the country.

“We sat squarely on the centre of the world stage and last summer allowed us to showcase our incredible country, resulting in more growth, investment and a boost for tourism. However this is just the start, we have a 10 year legacy plan and we must continue to make the very most of the opportunities the Games gave us.”

The Government and Mayor have today published a report – ‘Inspired by 2012: The legacy from the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games’. The report describes the activities since the Games they, and others, have taken to build a lasting legacy across a number of commitments including: sport and healthy living, the regeneration of east London, bringing communities together, the Paralympic legacy and economic growth. Whilst the legacy is described as a ten-year project, significant progress has been made.

The report includes a foreword by the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London, an assessment of progress and next steps by Lord Coe, the Prime Minister’s Olympic & Paralympic Legacy Ambassador, and comment from Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee.