We went to win – not to war.
I don’t do anything in business or when racing boats to simply take part. The old British sporting adage that taking part is more important than the winning is not something I’ve ever subscribed to.”
Keith Mills doesn’t stand on ceremony. He and the London bid team wrestled the 2012 Olympiad from the vice-like grip of the French at the very death. No apologies, no humble British befuddlement at the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) final decision. They believed they’d win – and shared a conviction that they deserved to win – so went all-out for victory.
As for the French? “They were kicking themselves quite frankly,” says Mills. It’s his simple response to the widespread Gallic allegations that the British team bent the rules and employed underhand tactics to secure the biggest sporting bounty the world has to offer.
Epic Turnaround
The bid itself was a turnaround of epic proportions. London’s package was roundly dismissed as inferior from the outset. Its initial chairman, Go airline entrepreneur Barbara Cassani, was written off as an inappropriate appointment only serving to illustrate the lack of belief and leadership talent in the UK.
To have an American woman fronting the bid, and one who felt discomfort doing the essential but brazen bar room lobbying, appeared absurd to many. Technically, the bid’s shortcomings were writ large in blinding neon. London had, or has, a decrepit transport infrastructure incapable of serving the great influx of people an Olympics would bring.
The residual feeling that the government would come up short again, stemming from the Picketts Lock World Athletics Championships fiasco, was also strong domestically and among voting IOC members. Couple that with the apparent superiority of Paris’ third (time lucky) bid for the Olympics and its impressive, and already built, national stadium, as well as the submissions of three other major world cities and it was hard to deny the merchants of doom had a point.
But ultimately they were wrong. And Mills proved why he has a reputation for winning. The AirMiles inventor and founder of the hugely successful Nectar loyalty card scheme was, as chief executive and international president of the bid, the business brain that masterminded the behind-thescenes operation.
While Seb Coe was rightly given credit for chairing it – after replacing Cassani – and leading from the front it was the detail and Mills’ record as an arch-pitcher that put the team leader in a position to contest the sprint finish.
Like a top class domestique in the Tour de France Mills was reliable, hard-working but ultimately happy to sacrifice personal glory. The comparison might not appear to do him justice but as someone who recognises the value of a tight unit and was part of the crew that won the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race he would no doubt detect the compliment. So how did he and his team pull it off?
Concept to Reality
Mills was hired as chief executive in September 2003. He had never been to an Olympics, had no experience of working with the public sector, and, bar his yachting, no sporting pedigree.
What he did have was a lifetime’s worth of pitching experience from his 20 years in marketing and advertising. With AirMiles, devised in 1988, he had turned a concept into a global reality. He also knew the bitter taste of failure. In 1993 a US AirMiles scheme collapsed costing Mills around £15m and in 2002 he finally exited ticket-ordering business First Call – the company he’d bought and taken private – having lost an estimated £10m. It proved he was prepared to take risks for a win rather than settle for second best. Later in 2002 he launched Nectar, sealing his rehabilitated reputation, and remains as chairman of Loyalty Management UK, which following an acquisition last year of AirMiles International Trading now owns both the AirMiles and Nectar assets and turned over £230m last year.
After accepting the role from Cassani it quickly became apparent the IOC wanted a well-founded bid delivered on time and to budget. Its 115 members across 80 countries were keen to avoid extravagance and lofty promises while retaining flair and imagination.
Cassani and Mills responded immediately by lining up the participation of spectacular sports stadia in Wembley and Wimbledon, and combining them with historic venues such as Greenwich Park, Lords and Horseguards Parade for beach volleyball. In addition London proposed the biggest new park built in 200 years, offering a legacy and environmental clout. “In any good business you start by doing research,” says Mills, “to understand what the customers are really looking for, and then try to build the product that best meets their needs and aspirations.”
Just over two months after his arrival Mills and Cassani had to present the complete Olympic plan – all the venues, all the budgets, absolutely everything – to the Cabinet for approval before the initial submission to the IOC on 15 January. “We basically had nine weeks from me starting to putting the plan together for the biggest event in the world, and that’s just not enough time. But we got to the shortlist.”