Blog: 12 August 2022 - Trowers and Hamlins, Corporate Partner

Councils on a global stage

The Commonwealth Games 2022 have been a resounding success for Birmingham as the host city, the wider region and the local residents and community groups who volunteered and made Birmingham 2022 the best attended Commonwealth Games on record.   

The Games have seen many firsts including an integrated sports programme with more para sports than ever before, awarding more medals to women than men and a parallel e-sports tournament. The Games have also been the most sustainable major sporting event to date, leaving a carbon neutral footprint.

All of this has been achieved after numerous initial hurdles including Birmingham taking over host status with only half the usual time to prepare for the Games, the impact of the pandemic on an already concentrated construction programme and major transport strikes during the programme (resulting in a major transport contingency project in the final weeks before the Games).       

Delivering the Games has been a pan-public sector operation for the region. With Birmingham City Council at the heart, other parties including all the region's local councils, West Midlands Combined Authority, WM Growth Company, Transport for West Midlands, West Midlands Police and various health and education institutions have closely co-operated through bespoke governance models allowing for flexible and co-ordinated action. The models have been complimented by the Government for their responsive nature - putting forward solutions to deliver the Games come what may.

The Trowers team have been flexible and agile in supporting the Council on the Games. The Council's lawyers, other public sector bodies and Trowers, have used new technologies allowing instant access to documents, real time overviews of activity and the application of AI tools. With collaboration at the heart of the Games, we endeavoured to forge strong working relationships with colleagues genuinely operating as one team given an ever-changing landscape with new emerging issues.

Work activity covered a range of specialisms including regulatory, construction, commercial, IP, data, property and cyber to name a few. Co-ordinating legal input across a combined public/private legal team, needed open communication and mutual support - something that we succeeded in given the hard deadline and shared desire to deliver!         

As eyes now turn to legacy, Trowers can share our experiences from the London Olympics where we acted on the conversion of the Olympic Stadium, Athletes Village and the establishment of vehicles to run and commercialise legacy Olympic assets. What is key to successful legacy is that local voices are heard, communities are engaged with and the huge goodwill generated in the region is employed for even greater benefit for residents. With much planned in this regard - watch this space for what will follow!       

Amardeep Gill

Partner at Trowers & Hamlins