About Us

About the LLDC and its Board

The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC or the Legacy Corporation) is a functional body of the GLA. Based in based in Stratford, East London and established in April 2012 as a Mayoral Development Corporation under the Localism Act 2011, it took over assets and projects of its predecessor body, the Olympic Park Legacy Company. LLDC became the planning authority within its Mayoral development area on 1 October 2012 with extended boundaries beyond the Park. This includes both the Park itself and neighbouring districts like Hackney Wick, Fish Island, Bromley-by-Bow, Sugar House Lane, Carpenters Estate and Westfield Stratford City.

LLDC operates within the overall legislative and governance framework provided by the GLA Act 1999 and 2007 and the Localism Act 2011. The Mayor of London appoints members to its Board and allocates its budgets. It is based in Stratford, East London.

LLDC’s mission is to use the opportunity of the London 2012 Games and the creation of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to change the lives of people in east London and drive growth and investment in London and the UK, by developing an inspiring and innovative place where people want to live, work and visit.

Since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Legacy Corporation has connected the Park to surrounding neighbourhoods and transformed the Park and venues into a permanent visitor destination, including appointing an operator for every venue and commencing construction on East Bank – the largest and most ambitious cultural and education district in a generation. As a regeneration agency, LLDC has a major part to place in London and the UK’s recovery from Covid-19.

LLDC works closely with the four neighbouring boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest and residents in neighbouring local communities, local organisations, businesses and regeneration agencies and national and international sporting, cultural and leisure organisations to deliver its strategic goals in a collaborative and integrated way. The leaders or Mayors of the four neighbouring boroughs sit on the Board.

LLDC Regeneration

The LLDC’s regeneration role extends well beyond the transformation of the Park, and its vision and mission are ambitious. Its plans include: delivering new neighbourhoods and building thriving communities, embedding higher education, innovation, enterprise, arts and culture at the heart of the Park, creating job opportunities, and working in partnership to regenerate the areas surrounding the Park. This work is already well in train, and since 2012, LLDC has:

ensured that all of the venues are operating on a long-term sustainable footing and animated the Park and venues with a wide range of sporting and cultural events drawing over 8 million visits to date;
agreed, accelerated and begun to implement a strategic plan for new homes, public space and social infrastructure (schools, libraries, health and community centres); the first homes at Chobham Manor have been occupied and a developer for the next new neighbourhood in East Wick and Sweetwater is in place;
created new job opportunities: more than 7,000 people have worked on the Park since the end of the Games, including over 150 apprentices, with significant proportions recruited from neighbouring boroughs;
delivered a Paralympics legacy through the annual National Paralympics Day, inclusive sports programmes and a permanent space on the Park at Mandeville Place marking the most supported Paralympics to date; and
developed the vision and plan for East Bank, a new cultural and education district, which will put education, arts and culture and innovation at the heart of the Park, by bringing together world class institutions such as Sadler’s Wells, University of the Arts London, University College London’s London Collage of Fashion, the BBC, and the Victoria & Albert Museum . Planning permission has been achieved and construction started, and the Foundation for FutureLondon charity has been established to help realise the potential of East Bank and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, through the promotion of arts, culture, science and education.

LLDC Values

To deliver this programme, the Legacy Corporation is committed to working as one organisation, exhibiting the following values in its internal culture and in its work with partners:

Ambition: we are dynamic, and open to new opportunities that are consistent with our underlying mission.
Responsibility: we are accountable and transparent – taking ownership of our commitments and delivering them effectively.
Excellence: we are focused on delivery and achieve high professional standards in all we do.
Collaboration: we form partnerships with other organisations based on trust and respect.

Equalities and diversity

LLDC is committed is committed to building an equitable, diverse and inclusive workforce to ensure that we can provide a social, cultural and economic benefit drawn from the talent and potential that exists in the East End of London and this is set out in our Diversity and Inclusion statement.

LLDC is proud to have been awarded the Disability Confident Employer certificate. The Disability Confident Employer certificate is awarded by the Job Centre to employers who have a positive approach to employing people with disabilities.

As a public body and member of the GLA Group, the LLDC is subject to legislation concerning equality and discrimination. This legislation includes Equal Pay Act 1970, Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and Equality Act 2010. These pieces of legislation place a general duty upon the GLA to have due regard to the need to tackle discrimination; promote equality of opportunity; and promote good relations.

In practice this means making sure that the duty is central to the way in which any function is carried out and where equality is relevant. This general duty applies not only to services provided directly by the LLDC but also to services delivered by third parties, including suppliers, on their behalf.

LLDC is committed to ensuring this is reflected in our Boards and our senior teams, in order to improve our decision making. We know that diversity of voices and thought lead to better problem solving and decision making and means we are better representing the communities we serve.

In July 2017, the Mayor published a strengthened Responsible Procurement Policy, which reflected his determination to establish fair employment practices with the GLA Group’s suppliers and ensure their employees receive fair pay and employment terms – including the London Living Wage.

The policy also means suppliers who want to work with organisations across the GLA Group are encouraged to support other Mayoral objectives including helping London become a more resource-efficient and resilient city, as well as working with Londoners to bring about positive changes to their communities.

LLDC Governance

The Mayor is able to direct LLDC in the exercise of its functions, and to delegate functions to it. In November 2012, the Mayor delegated to the LLDC powers to promote economic development and wealth creation, social development and the improvement of the environment.

The decision-making framework for LLDC is agreed by the LLDC Board and is documented in the Standing Orders and Scheme of Delegations.

The Board is appointed by the Mayor of London and currently consists of 15 members including a Chair, the leaders or Mayors of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, the Deputy Mayor of Planning, Regeneration and Skills, and nine members with skills ranging from sports and community engagement to property and finance. The biographies of the current board members can be found on our website here.

The LLDC Board is responsible for setting strategic direction and overall policy within an overall framework set by the Mayor of London, providing leadership, challenge and support to the organisation, providing oversight and scrutiny, monitoring performance and corporate governance. The Board and committees meet in public in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972.

The Chief Executive and the directorate heads make up the Executive Management Team (EMT) and are responsible and accountable for the delivery of the day-to-day operations of LLDC.

LLDC has a Legacy Youth Board made up and led by a dedicated group of 18–25 year olds, unified by a shared home in the host boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. They represent diversity in age, as well as ethnicity, gender and lived experiences, to bring an alternative perspective to the boardrooms that make crucial decisions for the future of the areas that have defined us. Legacy Youth Board members currently serve as observers on the LLDC Board and Committees. A Legacy Youth Board member will be recruited and appointed as an LLDC Board member as part of the recruitment for new Board members.

LLDC Structure

LLDC is organised into eight directorates (Executive Office; Communications, Marketing & Strategy; Finance, Commercial and Corporate Services; Park Operation & Venues; Development; Regeneration & Community Partnerships; Planning Policy & Decisions; Construction), each with a director who is part of the EMT.

Transition

Whilst LLDC still has a number of key strategic targets to deliver, the Mayor of London has requested that work begins to ensure that plans for the Transition of the organisation can start to be put in place from 2024, with earlier steps being taken where appropriate. Following discussions with the Mayor of London and Local Boroughs, LLDC’s Board approved a high level strategy for Transition in February 2020.