London 2012 will go down in history as one of the most spectacular Games the world has ever witnessed, and as the country proudly looks back on what our nation achieved this summer, so too are we celebrating the role we played in making it all happen. Over 800 of our partners and people made a contribution to the Games – a total of over 750,000 hours of expertise by the time the Organising Committee dissolves. We provided secondees into critical delivery roles, handled over 200 advisory engagements, and took the London 2012 story into communities across the whole of the UK. Our contribution to these Games began in 2003. It will continue far into the future.

“The staging of the Games is possibly the most complex project that London will ever undertake. Deloitte's experience at providing solutions to its clients' most complex issues was without doubt a valuable addition to the London 2012 team.”

Lord Coe, Chair, London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games

As challenges go, this was about the biggest in Deloitte’s history: the ultimate immovable deadline; a relentless delivery programme; significant budget pressure; huge media scrutiny. It was the kind of challenge our people thrive on, and the ultimate stage on which to showcase our expertise.

Our involvement stretches back nine years, when even before London was selected to host the Games, we seconded a partner to be the bid company’s Finance Director. Four years later we made history when the London Organising Committee appointed us to be the Official Professional Services Provider to the Games, the first time a professional services firm had ever been involved at this level. It was a pioneering move for the Olympic movement and for our firm.

The Organising Committee faced some unusual challenges – such as the complications of sourcing 1.8m pieces of sporting equipment for just a six-week period, or the complex endeavour of structuring the team that would stage the Games – an organisation that needed to grow to the size of a FTSE 100 company at Games time and then be dismantled again within only a few months. Our expertise in solving the most complex business problems helped LOCOG to deal with both such challenges, as well as many more.

We were involved across a range of LOCOG’s operational areas – from procurement to catering, from tax to technology. Our services also extended across the breadth of the Olympic family – including the Olympic Delivery Authority, the London Legacy Development Corporation, the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association.

LOCOG forecast to source just 50 of its staff from Deloitte over five years. We have actually supplied 130 secondees – with over 1,200 applications from our people for these roles. Working on London 2012, our secondees had the experience of a lifetime – Dave, for example, was in the heart of the action at Games time, as Venue Operations Manager for the Olympic Stadium - built from many years of contribution to strategy, planning and operational delivery across the Organising Committee. In fact, our secondees had some of the highest people engagement scores in our annual people survey while at LOCOG, and more than 40 have been promoted through their secondment. We believe this secondment programme has created a cohort of future leaders in our business and this secondment, approach is being adopted in other parts of Deloitte where intensive long-term client demands exist.

As the global spotlight now moves on, our commitment to taking a lead in society continues. We backed London’s bid because of our belief in the social, economic and business potential of the Games and that belief has not faltered. It was this belief that motivated our partnership with the British Paralympic Association, using the London 2012 Paralympic Games to change the face of disability sport in this country. It was this belief that fuelled our work with the London Legacy Development Corporation, helping to ensure East End communities continue to benefit from the Games for generations to come. And it’s this belief that now spurs us on in encouraging UK business to truly capitalise on the success of London 2012, and the various legacy opportunities for British business that it offers.

Our support of London 2012 was not just about making it happen, but about leaving a lasting legacy well beyond 2012.

“I have seen a number of major consultancies struggle to really understand the complexity and dynamic of bidding for or organising an Olympic Games. Conversely, Deloitte has made an incredible impact to the delivery of London 2012 through the quality of its people who have consistently been some of LOCOG’s highest performers.”

Doug Arnot, Games Operations Director, LOCOG

Throughout this report, we’ve used examples from this very special case study to bring to life the impact and influence we can have as a firm. As well as delivering an exceptional client contribution across the Olympic and Paralympic family, we wanted London 2012 to touch every part of our firm.

• Find out more about our work with the London Legacy Development Corporation, and our work on the iCITY bid, helping to support entrepreneurial businesses and create jobs.
• Read about the experience of one of our LOCOG secondees, Gavin McAlpine who has extended his professional expertise working as Head of the Testing & Exercising Team.
• Find out how we worked to embed Sustainability at the heart of London 2012.
• Understand our longstanding commitment to deliver sustained value from London 2012 through our leadership on disability sport and our support to create jobs through social enterprise in East London.