Olympic Challenge
From July 27 to August 12 this year, all eyes will be on London for the London 2012 Olympics. They are followed by the Paralympic Games from August 29 until Sept 9 2012.
With the Queen’s Jubilee and Wimbledon tennis championships also due to occur in London this summer, the capital will be hosting the world’s elite athletes and vast numbers of spectators and visitors, from the UK and overseas.
The pressure will be on London’s infrastructure to handle the numbers, the transport and security implications not to mention the extra administration. There’s no doubt it’s going to have a major impact on the UK and especially London – including in some ways you may not have considered.
For example, it’s certain to have a profound impact on mobility programmes for organisations relocating employees to the UK and, more specifically, London, around the middle of 2012.
The experiences of our partner offices in two other recent Olympic cities, Sydney and Beijing, suggest that the impact is likely to be huge and wide-ranging.
The message is clear – things will not be running as normal in the UK and particularly in London during much of next summer, so its imperative to build the Olympics into your planning for 2012 and make necessary allowances
Immigration. Need a visa? Apply early.
As yet, UK immigration has made no official announcement regarding changes to immigration processes for employees on assignment in the lead-up to the Olympics, and the UK Border Agency has not released plans to increase resources for this event.
However, we understand that a special visa category has been created for athletes and officials travelling to the UK for the games, with most athletes expected to obtain their visas well before the start of the games.
If this is confirmed, then given the sheer numbers involved, realistically we can expect delays in processing visa applications as we approach the start of the Games and also during the games. So we would urge anyone requiring a visa in the months running up to the Games to apply well in advance.
In Beijing and Sydney, lead times for visa approvals extended due to the volume of applications. Throughout the lead-up to and during the Games, there was repeated movement of the goal posts for restrictions to visa and work permit regulations.
Housing
Demand for accommodation in the capital for the peak period between June and September is already rising and landlords are seeking opportunities to capitalise on the higher rental costs they can demand.There have also been cases of fraud reported, where overseas visitors book accommodation online and pay deposits for “ringer” properties which are listed on websites but do not actually exist. Companies that operate “lump sum” policies for their assignees may be vulnerable to similar scams.
Some London landlords close to the Olympic area are also attempting to insert an ‘Olympic Clause’ into their leases, indicating that they are willing to take on leases, but only until the start of the Games. They will also only accept a lease renewal on condition that the tenant is willing to vacate the property from the end of June until early September.
In Beijing and Sydney, occupancy of rented accommodation following the Olympics dropped to below 50% capacity.
Temporary Accommodation
In Beijing and Sydney, prices for serviced accommodation and hotel rooms tripled leading up to and during the games. Some serviced accommodation companies in London have already been quoting minimum length contracts to relocation companies. Following the Olympics in Beijing and Sydney, occupancy rates dipped to below 20%.
Logistics, Household Goods Moving and Parking
The Olympics will present a significant logistical challenge for household goods moving operations.
A number of “Olympic Traffic Lanes” have been identified on main arterial roads serving London and within key city areas. These are yet to be confirmed, but any reduction in the number of lanes will have a knock-on effect to delivery and collection times throughout the Capital.
The Olympic Traffic Lanes, to be used by the 18,000 athletes and officials, will be on a third of the 109 mile Olympic Route Network (ORN), which constitutes one percent of the Capital’s roads.Parking is also going to be affected, as parking bays are restricted for security purposes and to reduce congestion. This will also make suspending parking bays for collections and deliveries dependent on property locations.
Our Sydney partners described the impact of the 2000 Olympics on logistics as ‘a bit of a nightmare.’ Main roads were blocked weeks before the event and traffic was gridlocked. Deliveries and uplifts were challenging and moving consultants out on the road faced serious delays. We have to therefore assume that there was a significant impact on the Relocation industry in Sydney in 2000, we have to assume the impact in London in 2012 will be much worse.
Impact on customs and port procedures
If Sydney and especially Beijing are any guide, we should expect some effect to be felt in these areas, although there has been no announcement as such. Customs clearance regulations were revised, there were enhanced inspections on shipments and additional handling charges and procedures at ports, which slowed down all releases by a few days and added time to port storage charges and potential demurrage charges.
Security
Tighter security measures are expected to extend to customs procedures. In the Sydney Olympics, the number of container and shipment inspections increased significantly which delayed more shipments and increased customs charges. In both Beijing and Sydney, the authorities vetted applications for visas extremely closely, especially if they came from states viewed as a potential terror risk.
The message is clear – things will not be running as normal in the UK and particularly in London during much of next summer, so build the Olympics into your plans and make allowances.
