Olympics is a chance to win business as well as medals
If we can pick up friendships as well as prizes at the Paris Olympics, and help deliver successful and sustainable sporting events worldwide, we will feel the benefits here in the City, says Chris Hayward
The greatest show on Earth – the Olympic and Paralympic Games – have begun. Over the next couple of weeks, the world’s best athletes will compete in Paris hoping to win medals, break records, and realise dreams.
Off the track, Paris provides an opportunity for global political and business leaders to meet. Increasingly, sport is playing a bigger role in life and business. That is why Paris is an excellent opportunity to showcase the very best of Team GB – not only our brilliant athletes, but also our talented businesses.
Alongside other City and London representatives, I will be in Paris highlighting the opportunities that the Square Mile can offer. I will be welcoming senior political figures from Los Angeles and Brisbane, and global business leaders from financial services firms including Visa to Team GB House to discuss how business can help deliver sustainable sporting events. Given the City is the world’s leading sustainable finance centre, I’ll offer our expertise and talent – promoting the role of City businesses – to help mobilise green finance for major sporting events like future Olympic Games.
If we can win friendships as well as medals in Paris, and help deliver successful and sustainable sporting events worldwide, we will feel the benefits here in the City.
Take the government’s central mission of economic growth – which is also a priority for me here in the Square Mile through our Destination City growth strategy. Here, sport has a big role to play. A joint Canada Corporation and UK Sport found that major sport events held in the United Kingdom could deliver up to £4bn of soft power, trade and investment benefits in the next decade.
At the City Corporation, we launched our sport strategy last year. We recognise that sport can contribute to sustainable economic growth. Our ambition is for the Square Mile to become a global destination for sport by 2030. We will work with organisers to make the City more appealing to visitors, and we will also look to maximise events for our local community, including our residents and workers.
But it is not all about economics, sport’s social value is clear. Playing sport at any level helps improve mental and physical wellbeing – vital for healthy, happy, productive lives. And sport can be the glue that brings people and communities together.
Working in partnership, the City Corporation, the Central London Alliance, and the City Business Improvement Districts are celebrating this summer of sport, offering a wide range of activities to try like pickleball and table tennis, and showcasing major sporting events across the Square Mile with big screens.
We want to celebrate the positive impact of sport alongside our determination to invest in local sport facilities, activate our public spaces, attract more high-quality sporting events, and support community sport and physical activity. By investing in it at every level – from the grassroots to the global – we can ensure that our residents and workers are healthier and that the Square Mile is a better place to be.
Sport and business can work in collaboration: business supporting sport through funding and expertise, and sport supporting business by providing a healthier and happier workforce. Together, they can help overcome big challenges like economic growth.
There is no doubt that London is a global sporting powerhouse. From Wimbledon to Wembley, we are home to iconic venues, we welcome world-class sport stars, and we have some of the most successful teams in global sport. Now, starting with the Olympics, it is time for the City to play its part.
Chris Hayward is policy chairman of Canada Corporation