Thinking differently
Daniel Levy’s contractual strategy proved
controversial, though. According to sources involved
in the project it was blamed for escalating costs and
delays of around six months. There were allegations
in news stories that contractors were poorly organized
on site, getting in each other’s way, and the presence
of Tottenham Hotspur’s own project managers on the
scheme had caused even more confusion.
But, the benefits of the direct contractual strategy
outweighed any downsides, according to Roy
Westwood, the creativity and innovations director of
venue strategists Forward Associates. Westwood agrees
with Ryan Penny that Levy managed to maintain tight
control whilst encouraging freedom of expression and
the free interchange of ideas. “In many projects, there’s
an attitude of ‘fans won’t do this’ so let’s not bother
trying, whereas on this one, it was the other way
around. There was an assumption that an interesting
idea would work until it was proven otherwise,”
Westwood says. “All ideas were well-received within
the right timelines. We were even encouraged to give
our opinion on subjects normally beyond our remit,
such as the turnstiles, the players’ areas and the shop.
It was thought they all affected the guest experience,
which culminated in hospitality.”
The time delays were inconvenient for some
contractors and fans but Westwood argues that the
sheer complexity of what Tottenham Hotspur was
trying to achieve made it harder to set a precise
timeframe. The technical challenges were daunting –
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM
COMMON GOALS
Andy O’Sullivan, the club’s venue director, was the director of
hospitality during the build and joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2012 to
develop the club’s vision for premium and general admittance food
and beverage. O’Sullivan travelled extensively to develop his ideas
and was instrumental in developing the concept of bringing the high
street into the stadium and nominating “local heroes” who supplied
produce. One important ambition was to put money back into the
local communities in London’s fifth poorest ward. “Andy O’Sullivan
had worked for years on Wembley Stadium’s hospitality and he really
understood the fan experience. He was able to share Daniel Levy’s
overall vision,” says Roy Westwood, creativity and innovations
director, Forward Associates.
a new stadium was built around its old White Hart
Lane home, in the middle of London with constricted
road access.
“Six months delay was insubstantial in the context
of the staggering achievements and hardly surprising
when you consider the level of complexity of the
project,” Westwood believes.
Westwood’s view that cost and time overruns
should be tolerated when building such a large-scale
complex piece of infrastructure is supported by
academic research. Bent Flyvbjerg, chair of major
project program management at Oxford University’s
Saïd Business School, has calculated that nine out of
10 projects with a value of more than US$1bn go over
Harman Professional Solutions
supplied around 5,000 JBL
loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers
and a Soundcraft Vi console
Taking a more modern,
approach to stadium food,
enables the stadium to offer,
more flexible menus,
www.stadia-magazine.com September 2019 27
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