Published: 19 July 2015 in Industry News

Olympic Funding Could Boost Building Investment in the UK

The post-Olympic thrill may have worn off months ago, but the hugely successful games have left an exceptionally positive impact in their wake. Sports UK released funding figures in December 2012 for the Rio 2016 Olympic games, assigning funding to various Olympic events primarily based on medal performance at the London 2012 games.

Water polo came out on top with a massive 53.6% funding increase from £2.93 million to £4.5 million. Boxing did exceptionally well to secure a 44.5% funding increase from £9.55 million to £13.8 million. It’s thought the instant founding of the UK as a force in womens Olympic boxing cemented the increase when British flyweight, Nicola Adams, took the first gold ever awarded in the new Olympic sport.

Also enjoying healthy funding increases are equestrian sports with a a 33.6% funding rise of £13.39 million to £17.9 million, fencing with a 22.56% rise from £2.5 million to £3.1 million, gymnastics with a 34.6% rise from £10.77 million to £14.5 million, and canoeing with a rise of 18% from £16.18 million to £19.1 million.

But it’s not all good news. Minor sports are feeling the financial pinch, meaning many will simply not have access to the best training facilities and resources ahead of the Rio 2016 games. Archery and badminton will both lose between 19% and 20% of their funding, with judo losing 9.3% Around £24.56 million has been cut from poorly performing sports, although several sources were keen to point out that as a nation that habitually spends close to £1 billion on foreign aid each month, it seems odd that £25 million can’t be freed up from somewhere to promote British sport. Basketball and handball lost their funding altogether.

Overall, funding has actually risen in total from London 2012 figures by 11% across the board. Although some sports have missed out, it’s great to see the current coalition government maintaining the interest in UK sports that was promised when they began to pour money into the London 2012 Olympic games. The Paralympics have also done well to secure 20% of the total budget, up from 16% for the London 2012 games.

Impact on the Construction Industry

Something we’re really proud of is how much of an impact our temporary buildings and modular buildings can have on sports in the local community. Many of our relocatable building systems are ideally suited for use as things like sports field offices, changing rooms, kit stores, meeting rooms and training centres. For us, it’s great to see Sport UK sticking to it’s guns and keeping UK sports funding at the forefront of community issues in the current post-Olympic climate.
Sports UK is hoping to match or exceed the performance of our Olympic athletes at the Rio 2016 games, but perhaps their primary aim is to help make sports attractive and accessible to people all over the UK. And that, as we believe it, would be a truly Olympic legacy!

Visit our Sports and Leisure page  to see how modular buildings can benefit sports clubs and the leisure sector.