20 London Life
Surrey supreme
LCCI’ s annual visit to the Kia Oval was another outstanding success. Members and guests saw Surrey, put in to bat by the Kent Spitfires, amass a total of 286 in the Royal London one-day cup fixture, and emerge winners by 95 runs.
Iconic
The ground’ s iconic gasometer is being developed into apartments and penthouses by Berkeley,
a company founded by a former LCCI president, the late and much-missed Tony Pidgley CBE.
Bidding for the world
After a hugely successful European athletics championships in Birmingham, and a great track record in the Diamond League, the signs are good for London’ s bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships.
A feasibility study conducted prior to April 2025, when London ' s intention to bid was announced, said the competition could bring a £ 400 million benefit to the economy, with the UK government confirming its support for the bid later that year.
Athletic Ventures – a body made up of UK Athletics, London Marathon Events,
and the Great Run Company – have submitted the final bid documents to World Athletics.
Fantastic support
Jack Buckner, chief executive of UK
Athletics, commented:“ Bidding to hold the World Athletics Championships in the London Stadium, the showpiece of
London 2012, was always at the centre of the UK’ s Olympic legacy plans.” He also acknowledged the“ fantastic support” of the government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and UK Sport.
www. athleticventures. co. uk
What’ s up doc?
Scenes in the square are sculptures which portray classic characters which resonate with Leicester’ s Square’ s association with the film industry. So far in the series LBM has featured Bridget Jones, Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and Bollywood legends Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.
Distinctive
Bugs Bunny makes it into the square as the first( and, so far, only) cartoon character. The rabbit is depicted beside his mailbox, eating a carrot as he utters his catch phrase:“ What’ s up doc?” in his distinctive Brooklyn accent.
Mascot
The character was created in the 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons eventually becoming the company’ s official mascot. Bugs Bunny starred in the Looney Tunes series alongside Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd and had his own TV show.