UPS is ahead of schedule on its mammoth task to clear up the London 2012 Olympics, moving out of the athletes’ village today.
“There’s been a mixture of disposition routes, some of its been sold, some of its been given away or returned to the leasing company,” said Alan Williams, UPS director of London 2012 sponsorship and operations.
“We’re down to about 30,000 pallets in the warehouses, all the venues are empty, and the village we actually finish at lunchtime today and the only two operational sites left are the two warehouses, so it’s quite a landmark day for us.”
After a nine month fitting out process, it has taken just two months to remove all furniture, fittings and equipment from the village in a phased process. As each building has been cleared, construction firms have moved begun re-modelling the flats for future tenants.
UPS has used two warehouses for its logistics operations for the games, which are due to be returned to the landlords by 31st December. However the moving out process is ahead of schedule, and the Stevenage site is expected to be closed by the end of this month, and the Tilbury warehouse should be empty by the 15th December.
UPS had some 630 employees working on the various logistics operations, with 150 based at the village. And they had to collaborate with many others working on the games.
Williams said: “It’s been an incredible experience actually, starting from scratch getting up to speed with 1,300 people…. There have been some outstanding individuals on the teams so we’ve been able to accommodate some of those people back on the mothership with UPS.”
