Showsec Helps 2012 Olympics Off To A Flying Start

Over 6,000 people attended the event on Wednesday 27th July and among the crowds were a plethora of special guests and VIPs including Prime Minster David Cameron, London Mayor Boris Johnson and Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The countdown, organised by Greater London Authority (GLA) in conjunction with Innovision event management company and Westminster Council, was televised live on BBC One. It saw David Cameron make a brief speech on the current planning and budgeting for the games, followed by dancing, live music from The Feeling and the unveiling of the 2012 medal designs by British artist David Watkins.

Dayo Adelugba, Showsec’s head of security for the event, said: “It was very high-profile event which centred around ensuring the one hour live TV show went smoothly.

“People were arriving from 6pm with the show starting at 7pm, and we had to make sure everyone was in place. We searched each person who attended and despite the tight timeframe the ingress and egress went really well and there was a really safe vibe throughout.”

Showsec provided 130 SIA licensed security staff and stewards, and five supervisors.

Dayo continued: “Getting people in and out quickly and safely was our main concern – as it was rush hour no roads could be closed, meaning we had to closely monitor and control the flow rate of people accessing and leaving the site. Thorough planning between us and the organisers meant that the entire event was a success and everyone enjoyed the celebrations.”
 
Over 12.1m (21% of the UK population) tuned into BBC News coverage and the One Year to Go special programme.