Olympic boss Dennis Hone CBE is set to stand down after playing a pivotal role in the build up to London 2012 and in securing the long-term legacy of the Games in east London.
Mr Hone will be leaving his role as chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) this summer to take up the post of group finance director with Mace, an international consultancy and construction company.
He first joined the LLDC in 2012 as the group’s chief executive following several years as the Olympic Delivery Authority’s director of finance and corporate services before becoming its chief executive in February 2011.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, praised Mr Hone, 56, saying he could “take much of the credit” for the “highly successful” public reopening of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park earlier this year.
He said: “Dennis has played a huge role not just in getting London ready for the Games but for ensuring that we in London have the best and most advanced economic legacy – especially in east London – of any Olympic city in recent memory.
“He can take much of the credit for the recent highly successful reopening of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and we wish him well in his new job.”
Mr Hone played a key role in securing the long-term future of all eight permanent Olympic venues following London 2012, including striking deals for the Olympic stadium and the press and broadcast centre – now the Here East digital quarter.
He has spent more than 25 years working in urban regeneration roles holding senior positions in the public sector including English Partnerships, and the London Docklands Development Corporation.
In June last year he was awarded the honour of Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to the London Olympic Games.
Following the announcement yesterday, Mr Hone said: “With the opening of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park it is the right time to bring my part in a wonderful eight-year journey to a close and to take on a new challenge.
“It is not the end of the Olympic legacy story, though, and I know I leave behind an excellent team that will deliver on our regeneration promises for east London.”
Mace’s chief executive, Mark Reynolds, said he was “looking forward” to the expertise and experience Mr Hone would bring to the company.
The recruitment process for a new chief executive of the LLDC is underway, a spokesman confirmed, with the corporation hoping to make an appointment in the coming months.
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