Small businesses win unique poster adverts on display at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

The advert for Smallholders was designed by local artist Bruce Ingram (Image: Archant)

The Your Ad Here project will see posters and billboards promoting 35 businesses within the Olympic boroughs placed on empty shop hoardings across the park, home of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Adriana Marques, LLDC's principal advisor for arts and culture (Image: Archant)

They have been created by a group of east London artists and will remain in situ for up to three years until shops or other businesses move into the spaces.

Kevin Shaw is one of the shop owners to be included in the project, which was commissioned by the London Legacy Development Corporation and carried out by Moniker Projects and Create London.

He has owned and managed Smallholders pet, garden and aquatics centre in Wood Grange, Forest Gate, for 15 years and even worked at the centre as a boy under the previous owner.

Kevin said: “Advertising costs a fortune. I’m only a little shop – it’s only me and my dad that work here – so normally we don’t have a budget to advertise to that sort of standard,” he said.

“I never would have been able to afford anything like that. It’s nice helping the little businesses – that’s what we need really.”

Local artist Bruce Ingram designed the poster for Smallholders using cut-out-style images of fish and plants.

More than 140 businesses applied online for a chance to be part of the initiative.

Adriana Marques, who leads the arts and culture programme at the park, said: “It’s really about getting beautiful adverts for the businesses that make them really proud of what they do.

“Because the posters look different, it makes people stop and really look at them.”

While some advertisements are already in place, others are set to appear in May.