LOCOG comprises over 15 departments and around 80 functional areas, each with its own specific responsibilities for delivering the operations necessary to stage the Games. Critical therefore to the success of the project is a comprehensive business plan which provides a clear overview of what each function needs to do, what resources it needs to do it and how much it will cost.

Project deliverables |  LOCOG's challenge |  What Deloitte did |  Impact on the games

Project deliverables

Deloitte was engaged to develop and deliver the LOCOG business plans for FY08/09 and FY09/10, and the first bottom-up Lifetime Business Plan, which runs all the way to Games time in 2012.

Work also included the development and integration of a robust programme management process to underpin the 5-year Lifetime Business Plan required for the delivery of LOCOG’s Olympic and Paralympic programme.
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LOCOG’s challenge

Managing such a large and complex project, along with balancing its £2bn budget, is a significant undertaking which can only be made possible with a structured roadmap of the steps along the way; a business plan aligned with LOCOG’s overall strategic objectives and integrated with its risk management and assurance processes.

Developing an integrated business plan to bring together the programme of work to deliver the Games with the necessary budget and resources required an experienced business planning team with expertise in running business planning processes, as well as content knowledge ranging from Ceremonies to Security, Transport to Sport.
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What Deloitte did

A team of Deloitte consultants has been working with LOCOG over the past two years to coordinate and support the business planning process across the organisation.

To ensure a better understanding of the scope of work to be delivered and the plans to achieve it, Deloitte helped LOCOG’s Planning team develop proactive links with the two departments most critical to the planning process: Human Resources, who align the resources required to deliver the programme plan, and Finance, who develop the required budgets to fund the work and staff required.

For the core of the project, Deloitte worked with each functional area to understand what services would be delivered at Games time and then documented what it needed to do and when in preparation for this. Each of the functional plans was then rolled into a departmental plan and finally into a consolidated LOCOG plan. With Deloitte teams having worked across all areas of LOCOG since its inception, the planning team was able to recognise areas of overlap between functions, leading to increased efficiencies, cost savings and improved project prioritisation.

The team has also been central to the consolidation and presentation of LOCOG’s Lifetime Business Plan, which the organisation will follow each year to Games time and beyond.
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Impact on the Games 

The Deloitte team has brought structure, rigour and consistency to the planning process, resulting in greater certainty around what is needed to deliver the Games successfully. The business plan will help LOCOG recruit the right people at the right time, to perform the right activities in the right order, to deliver the Games on schedule and within a balanced budget.

The Deloitte approach has helped to embed across LOCOG an understanding of the importance of each department’s role and has specifically enabled cross-functional integration, leading to cost savings and efficiencies across the Olympic and Paralympic programme.

Understanding the areas of spend within the business plan has also enabled LOCOG to manage its procurement process more effectively, with related items bundled together to drive economies or to make them more attractive to potential sponsors and suppliers.

Having provided a source of challenge throughout the process, the Deloitte team has ensured the business planning focus has remained on developing the right answer for LOCOG and, ultimately, for the Games in 2012.
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