Delancey’s award-winning Here East, London’s fastest-growing innovation campus and launchpad for the capital’s most impactful businesses, technologies and sectors, has today launched its 2020 Impact Report showcasing its economic and social impact on the capital and within the local community.
Eight years after London hosted the Olympics and coinciding with the original date of the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo, the Impact Report demonstrates the instrumental role of the campus in continued job creation, innovation, and investment, as a result of a post 2012 Olympics vision. The report showcases the impact that Here East, the result of the redevelopment of the former Press and Broadcast Centre for the 2012 Games, has had both on the local East London community and across the wider capital.
The campus is now home to a community of 4,500 people working and studying on the campus, and attracted 95,678 visitors over the last 12 months, 47,650 of whom attended high-profile events.
With 75 per cent of the campus let to companies spanning startups, academic institutions and global corporates, Here East, and the onsite innovation centre Plexal, has become London’s fastest-growing cluster for esports, micro-mobility and the creative industries.
The Here East Impact Report demonstrates the economic and social impact the campus has brought to the local area, born from the vision of London’s Olympic legacy strategy in 2012.
Engagement with young people through employment and educational support is a key part of this. Here East’s Insights Programme has provided more than 100 local young people with opportunities to engage with businesses in the last 12 months while the London Legacy Development Cooporation’s (LLDC) free EAST Education Summer School welcomed over 400 local 12-17 year olds for to access space and insights into businesses across the campus. The four universities onsite – Staffordshire University London, Loughborough University London, UCL and the soon to open Liverpool Media Academy – engage daily with tenant businesses onsite to offer students opportunities to develop career experience.
With concerns growing about the final cost of the Tokyo Olympics and the impact of the global economic crisis on future host cities Paris, Milan and Los Angeles, Here East’s Impact Report is a timely reminder about the positive social and economic results of private-sector investment into Olympic sites.
Gavin Poole, CEO of Here East, comments, “The vision for Here East was to create a space that housed ground-breaking technology-driven and creative businesses, to deliver jobs and education for east London and the whole of the UK as part of the Olympic legacy. Eight years later, that legacy has created a community of entrepreneurs, academics and corporates at the forefront of the country’s economic recovery. This Impact Report sends a clear message to the rest of the UK and future host cities around the world – the Olympics can be a springboard for entrepreneurial success and a launchpad for innovation with long-term economic and social benefits.”
Deputy Mayor for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, said: “Here East has set a new standard for regeneration as part of the legacy of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, which benefits local communities and drives economic growth. The Mayor and I have seen first-hand how the community is supporting disadvantaged Londoners as well as pioneering world-class innovation and research which could have an impact on Londoners for years to come.”
Paul Goswell, Managing Director of Delancey, comments, “Here East and its community of occupiers is a powerful reminder that the positive socio-economic legacy of London’s 2012 Olympics is still, 8 years later, going strong. The innovation and initiatives which have emerged on campus are testament to the potential such a versatile property and hands on management can open up for a local community, from job creation and career pathways for young people to support for local artists, entrepreneurs and nascent businesses. What Here East has achieved in this short space of time demonstrates the monumental impact that a well-run public private partnership can have in making a real positive impact for the local community.”
Lyn Garner, Chief Executive of London Legacy Development Corporation, comments, “The transformation of the former Press and Broadcast Centres into a hub of innovation and collaboration at Here East is a huge legacy success story. East London is reaping the social and economic benefits and will do for generations to come.”
Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates, comments, “Here East is the tangible manifestation of what an innovation district or an innovation zone should look like. Around the world, many of these districts are government-led, and while it is important that the public sector backs innovation, what Here East has done is create a model that really shows how successful the private sector can be in creating and fostering technology hubs.”
Vicki Austin, CEO at Global Disability Innovation Hub, comments, “Here East was born out of the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and we are proud for it to be the home of the GDI Hub. Together we can push the boundaries of disability innovation, design, technology on the campus because of the community working there, enabling us to forge partnerships and collaborate with inclusion, diversity and access at their heart.”
Here East, which is owned by clients of Delancey, a specialist real estate investment advisory company, is designed to foster collaboration, allowing its community to scale and grow at pace. Tenants include BT Sport, Plexal, Fiit.tv, Sports Interactive, Ford Smart Mobility, Matchesfashion and The Trampery, who provide 21 studios for local artists, businesses and designers on the Gantry.
