As London
returns to normal, the Olympics and Paralympics may seem like a distant dream
but beyond our impressive medal haul they leave a business legacy that goes
beyond East London.
As with
many businesses, at CitySprint the Olympic period provided us with a huge
number of observations and intelligence for how we plan for and manage unprecedented
busy periods in future.
In order
to minimise disruptions to our services, we devised contingency plans months
before the Games started, which included investment in leading routing
technology, increasing our pushbike fleet, using van assistants and introducing
a jogging and rollerblading team, which was a first for us! No doubt, other businesses across London were
also busy preparing for months in the lead up to the Games and adapted their
business accordingly.
For us,
the Olympics confirmed that lateral thinking and rigorous planning ahead really
do make a difference. TFL praised London businesses for their co-operation
during the Games but, perhaps more importantly, businesses learned that they
could prepare themselves for all manner of challenges. The Games also brought the World’s attention
in such a positive way to our great city of London and to the UK in general,
which can’t be bad for business in the long run!
It was an
unprecedented time for CitySprint, but one we’ve learnt a lot from that will no
doubt stand us in good stead in the future. I’m really pleased with how our
contingency plans performed and how our own athletic team pulled together to maintain
such a high level of customer service.
If we’re
looking for a legacy, I believe London 2012’s, at least for businesses, lies in
what can be achieved when we all work together and in being able to apply those
lessons to future endeavours. Something that we’ll be doing at CitySprint as we
prepare for our next challenge - the run up to Christmas!
