How London really won the games

Web Exclusive: The 2012 Olympic Games were never supposed to be in London. Michael Payne provides the inside story on how the bid was won

London entered the race to host the 2012 Olympic Games back in 2003. It was an outsider and stumbled through the early bid process. London trailed behind the favourite Paris, with Madrid, New York and Moscow all running hard.  London even struggled to find a CEO willing to take on the daunting task of leading the bid.  Perhaps surprisingly, no UK executive saw it as a particularly enticing career move, and eventually the American business woman, Barbara Cassani was persuaded to step forward. By the time the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had completed its initial evaluation of the technical files, London was ranked a distant third in the race and, by some, in an increasingly lacklustre fourth place.

Family affairs

Web Exclusive: Many believe that — when it comes to businesses started and operated by a family — the older the company, the more likely it is that that company will go public or be taken over by another firm. Julian Franks and Paolo Volpin found that the location of a family business is a major factor in who owns and operates it in the long term.

Anyone starting a family business has dreams of prosperity, success and a bountiful future. If a person’s business dreams involve generations of family members owning and running the company —all dedicated to preserving the legacy and controlling the business — France, Germany or Italy would be ideal starting grounds for such an endeavour. If the dreams involve building the company and then selling it off to the highest bidder so the family can retire in comfort, the United Kingdom would be the better place to set up shop.

MAVIN…8 REASONS WHY YOU CAN’T GIVE UP

Late last night we all heard of the unrelenting move embarked upon by Don Jazzy. The Unveil of MAVIN RECORDS With Signed Acts Wande Coal, Tiwa Savage, Dr SID & D’Prine. Don Jazzy is back with a new army to kick-start the record label, MAVIN RECORDS!. Good move Don. In the light of this what is there to be learnt.

At some point in the various journeys we embark on in our lives, we get to a part where we feel like giving up. Sometimes we give up before we even start and other times we give up just before we are about to make that huge break-through that we have been putting so much effort in to achieve. And some times we give up because we were let down.