The Red Bull Air Race World Series lands in the Capital for the fifth race of the series this summer, for what promises to be one of the most spectacular sporting events of the year.

The world’s best pilots will go head to head over the London skyline, in the world’s fastest and most exciting new motor sport.

Weaving their way through a complex series of air gates just metres above the Thames, at speeds of up to 250mph, and coping with forces of 10G, these dare devil pilots will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat.

For your chance to see British pilot Paul Bonhomme defend his status as leader of the series, just answer the question below. For more information, visit redbullairrace.com.

To see videos of the races please go to http://www.xbb.tv/v2/hi/watch/premium_media/alternative_media/new_media/business_opportunities/rbar07rio1/index.htm

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The Olympia Fair, a landmark event on the London art and antiques calendar for 35 years, has seen and survived many changes over the decades. Since its start in 1973, it has grown, shrunk, reinvented itself, expanded and retreated, changed names, management and ownership, while always managing to remain an admired and hugely popular fixture in the antiques world.

This year’s fair, which ran from June 5 to 15, exemplified its ability to change, and — perhaps more importantly, predicting the need for it — ensured Olympia’s continued success. The spring show, which stood alone for years before being joined by the February and November events, is without doubt a premier event again. Next year, after a drawn out display of survival of the fittest, will bring only two Olympia fairs. The June fair will return to its flagship status, on a par with major worldwide shows, and the exit of the February fair positions the November event for a more traditional role.

Now renamed Olympia International Art and Antiques Fair, it is smaller than in previous years, with 260 top dealers in a stunning layout and a new patron in Sir Timothy Clifford. This most recent incarnation garnered high praise from exhibitors and visitors alike.

Fair director Freya Simms spoke on behalf of the organizers, Clarion Events, and echoed the feelings of both dealers and buyers, commenting, “We are really proud of what has been achieved at Olympia. This year the fair looks spectacular and is a testament to the hard work and creative flair of the exhibitors in designing the stands and bringing such quality stock. Our visitor numbers are up and we are building for 2009.”

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Casual Games Forum to debut during London Games Festival in October

The UK is to host a new, high-profile event dedicated to the business of casual games in October.

The Casual Games Forum will debut during London Games Festival on Thursday, October 30th in the centre of the Capital.

The event – put together by Develop conference organiser Tandem Events – will be a one-day conference, with a morning track focusing on opportunities in the sector and what the future holds.

There will be two tracks in the afternoon, with one exploring the lucrative potential of casual games and the other taking on a more technical, development-centric feel.

“The casual games industry has grown dramatically in recent times and is rapidly saying goodbye to its niche tag as it becomes more and more mainstream,” Tandem Director Andy Lane told CasualGaming.biz.

“The Casual Games Forum has been designed with several aims in mind; to explore the business angles of this exciting market, but also to get under the skin of the more technical and practical aspects of developing casual games.

“As well as catering for those already involved in the sector, it’ll offer those waiting on the sidelines the chance to learn more and perhaps more importantly, give everyone the chance to network together, either as future partners or possible competitors.”

For more information, call Tandem Events on: +44 (0)20 7405 4500

You can visit the Tandem website here.

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May’s economic forecast made by the Confederation of British Industries indicates that the economy will grow at a level of 2%. This is a reduction of 0.2% since the September forecast.

However, perhaps the conference market has yet to be hit as hard as other areas of industry. The Evening Standard reported recently that expenses for corporate entertaining in city banks were being cut as employees are urged to stop flashing the company credit card after recession concerns have resulted in job losses. However, the Brewery is optimistic that its growth will reach its predicted 3% increase.

Changing business
This may be because we have seen a change in the way business is being conducted. All clients are reporting a change in their buying patterns, not a cessation of their expenditure.

Day delegate rates at the Brewery are from £69.00 plus VAT against the UK average of £45.62, yet we boasts a 50% rate of repeat business.

We conduct business analysis on a weekly basis. This means that general trends are easily identified and it helps to highlight that lead times are shortening. In the first two weeks of April, eight events were confirmed for May. Last year, these bookings would have been considered very last minute, but 2008 is shaping up to be a very different year.

Assured spend
We have also identified an increase in the value of each booking from contract to invoicing; the level of uplift each month has risen to 5% in 2008 compared to 2% in 2007. This demonstrates a slight hesitation of clients to commit at contract stage to guest numbers and beverage spends. However, when it comes to the actual event, the spend is assured.

Bookings show a shift in the types of industry holding events. The Brewery can report that many more bookings are coming from industries such as retail, transport, communications, new media, and there has also been a large increase in the number of events regarding sustainability and green issues.

Claire Lawson is general manager at London conference venue the Brewery.

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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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