Two UK companies have signed the contracts to build two of London 2012 as flagship venues, the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre.

Balfour Beatty has won the contract to build the Aquatics Centre and Team Stadium (Sir Robert McAlpine, HOK Sport and Buro Happold) were confirmed as the contractor for the Olympic Stadium.

The 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium will host the Athletics events as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Games. After the Games the Stadium will be converted to a 25,000 seat Athletics stadium, suitable for other sporting, community and educational uses.

The Aquatics Centre will have a capacity of 17,500 during the Games, reducing to 2,500 after the Games, with the ability to increase this for major events. The Aquatics Centre will include two 50m Swimming pools and a Diving pool - facilities that London does not have at present.

The contract for the Aquatics Centre also includes constructing the huge land bridge that will be the main gateway into the Olympic Park. The budgets for the Centre and the land bridge are £242m and £61m respectively.

And what a budget! The ODA’s press release proudly announces that the contracts are “within its baseline budget of £6.09 billion” with “no call on programme contingency at this stage”. Of the £6 billion, the stadium is going to cost £496 million and the pool a further £242 million

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Model Nell McAndrew stripped bare to help launch a major fundraising event for cancer research.

The 34-year-old London Based TV presenter braved chilly weather in London to take part in a naked training session along with women from around the UK.

The event aimed to highlight London Based Cancer Research UK Race for Life 2008, the largest women-only fundraising event in Britain and held in London every year

The training session in Regent’s Park, London, in temperatures a little above freezing, saw participants’ blushes covered by not much more than body-painted event running numbers, painted shorts and pink commemorative back signs.

Most of the women taking part had a personal connection to cancer, with the group including cancer nurses and survivors of the disease.

Women are invited to walk, jog, or run five kilometres (3.1 miles) at more than 260 events across the UK. The charity is hoping that 750,000 women will participate and help raise more than £50 million for research into all forms of cancer.

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A veteran destroyer of the Falkland Islands conflict, HMS Exeter has taken a starring role at this year’s ten day London Boat Show which officially opened on Friday.

The Type 42 destroyer as a London Venue is hosting several high-profile receptions, lunches and dinners on behalf of show organizers during the event at ExCel Centre Docklands London.The vessel is also open daily to visitors to learn about the role of the modern Royal Navy and how it fits in with the UK maritime community. Royal Navy frigates have been popular attractions at the show since 2004 but this year is the first time a destroyer has been involved as a fully fledged venue.

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London celebrated in style with the most spectacular New Year’s Eve party since the Millennium.

Thanks to a combination of dry weather conditions and cheap travel in some cities, hundreds of thousands of revellers were able to party at outdoor displays.

In the capital alone, up to half a million people lined the Thames to witness a spectacular £130,000-a-minute fireworks display. The cost was estimated at £1.3 million. They pyrotechnicians were mostly London based and they pyrotechnic company involved was a UK based company.

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Find Hospitality Services in London

All the hotels located in London are extremely famous for the services they offer. The concept of hospitality has been redefined in UK. The royal locations, excellent accommodation facilities and the sumptuous and delectable cuisine make the hotels in London special. The hotels boast of their grandeur and magnificence. The architecture is excellent and the hotels are well furnished inside too. The interior designing has been thoughtfully done and people love to plan vacations and spend time with their families in these royal hotels. The hotels are further divided into a number of categories. There is something for everyone. The restaurants and cafés are famous for their munching delights. There are historical bars that serve people with the finest of drinks. The eatery joints provide the travelers with extremely tasty food. The London gastro Pubs and traditional hotels are famous as they serve the localities with traditional British food. The international restaurants are specialized in serving all kinds of foods. There menu cards are elaborate and one can select the cuisine as per one owns liking.
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