Business Leaders Lecture with Chris Townsend CBE | Nottingham Trent University
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Business Leaders Lecture with Chris Townsend CBE

How to make things happen - Raising £2.5bn to fund the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Chris Townsend
In conversation | Public lectures

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were an unprecedented success by any measure.

The UK Government funded the construction of the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Park and the transport infrastructure at Stratford, East London. With a budget of £2.5bn, the task of securing the necessary funds was entrusted to Chris Townsend CBE, the Commercial Director of LOCOG. Chris will discuss how he and his team achieved success, sharing his experience and lessons learnt including what you need to do (and not do) to make things happen!

  • When: Tuesday 1 October 2024, 5.30 pm
  • Location: Lecture Theatre 4, Newton Building, Goldsmith Street, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG1 4BU
  • Booking deadline: Tuesday 1 October 2024, 5.00 pm
  • Download this event to your calendar
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Event details

Timings

5.30 pm – 5.45 pm: arrival and registration

5.45 pm – 6.30 pm: Chris Townsend presentation and Q&A

6.30 pm – 7.00 pm: post-lecture drinks and canapés

About the speaker - Chris Townsend CBE

Chris specialises in leading the successful development, delivery and management of major and high-profile projects, including digital and business transformation in telecoms, broadcast, sports and Government entities. He has 25 years of expertise at Board Director level, bringing together multi-disciplinary teams across the public and private sectors. Chris is currently an investor and advisor with a portfolio of six investments in UK technology startups, and Chair and Director of Extratime, a technology platform serving the sports and entertainment industries.

Chris formerly served as Senior Partner at KPMG and Head of KPMG’s Infrastructure, Government, Defence and Healthcare practice. In this role he developed and delivered the 5-year IGH Business Plan including approval for significant investment in digital transformation for a wide range of Government and public sector projects and contracts.

Chris undertook a voluntary role as CEO and SRO for the COVID-19 Shielding Programme in 2020, designed to protect 2.25 million clinically extremely vulnerable NHS patients in England, with a budget of £300m and coordinating the combined activities of several Government departments. Chris was awarded a CBE in recognition of his services in her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2021.

Previously, he was responsible for all commercial activities and revenues at Chelsea Football Club as Commercial Director. As CEO of Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), he oversaw a £1bn government investment, resulting in 95% coverage of superfast broadband across the United Kingdom.

Chris was the Commercial Director for the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), responsible for all Commercial activities including fund-raising, procurement and marketing. He received an OBE for raising £2.45bn and his contributions to the Games.

Nottingham Business School Students

This event can count towards your CPD hours, if applicable to your Personal Development Goals. Attendance at the event will be monitored and the event organisers will provide confirmation of your attendance to the lecture and networking, as evidence for your portfolio. The booking confirmation email alone will not count as attending the event. Guest speaker slides will not typically be made available, therefore you are encouraged to take notes and reflections throughout the lecture to use within your portfolio.

Location details

Room/Building:

Lecture Theatre 4, Newton Building

Address:

Goldsmith Street
 Nottingham
 Nottinghamshire
 NG1 4BU
Reserve your place

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