Our Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games story
PLAYING OUR PART IN HISTORY AT THE BIRMINGHAM 2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games was a momentous 11 days of sport and a game-changing event for both Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region. With more than one billion people tuning into the Closing Ceremony worldwide, the Games put the UK's second city firmly on a global stage and brought communities together as all 72 nations cheered on their athletes.
It was also a historic event of firsts, with more medals for women than men, the biggest para-sport programme a Commonwealth Games has ever seen and a steadfast commitment to leaving a carbon neutral footprint.
As the Official Legal Advisers to and sponsors of the Games, and Official Sponsors of Team England, we are so proud to have played a part in history and help deliver the biggest event the West Midlands has ever seen. Our whole firm, united in our excitement and pride of being involved in such an incredible event, pulled together to help build a lasting legacy and ensure 2022 was a year to remember.
4,500 athletes.
19 sports.
72 Commonwealth nations.
Eight para-sports.
14,000 volunteers.
One historic event.
One law firm.
A LEGAL LEGACY
Our legal work with the Games encompassed everything that a public body procuring the organisation of a large international sporting event could possibly need. Following our appointment back in 2019, we got straight to work advising Birmingham 2022 across a wide range of practice areas and legal issues. This included:
- The Birmingham Commonwealth Games Act, including developing the regulations dealing with preventing unauthorised advertising and trading into the run up of and during the Games
- Brand protection
- Commercial contracts
- Corporate structure
- Execution of contracts
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) matters and data protection issues
- New venue and accommodation agreements
- Non-branding intellectual property issues
- Procurement of goods and services, such as delivery of host broadcasting and ticketing, alongside public procurement strategic advice and support
- Property issues, in particular licences tied to the Birmingham 2022 multi-site strategy
- Risk management and problem-solving
- Workforce issues
We also advised on projects such as the design and building of the medals and the Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay, in addition to the creation of Birmingham 2022 Official Mascot, Perry the Bull. A key element of our partnership with the Games was providing secondees to resource the in-house legal team. For our people this has not just been a chance to apply their expertise in new settings and building client relationships, but also a once in a lifetime experience.
In addition to providing legal support to Birmingham 2022, we also worked closely with Team England to advise them on all of their legal requirements. That advice ranged from reviewing supplier and athlete arrangements, including high-profile contracts, to protecting IP.
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