By David Gold

Olympic_press_centre_17-08-11August 17 - Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), the only Spanish firm involved in the 2012 London infrastructural preparations, has started fit out work on the International Broadcast Centre (IBC).


The IBC shell was completed last month and due to be finished by the end of April 2012, with the FCC responsible for the design and maintenance of the centre.

At 56,000 square metres it will be one of the largest venues in the Olympic Park, and will be hosting 20,000 international broadcasters, journalists and photographers during London 2012.

The pressure will be on, particularly given that an estimated 4.4 billion people worldwide tuned into the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games according to the Nielsen Company.

FCC were initially working in partnership with joint venture partner P Elliott.

But Elliott went into administration in May.

Eliiott was also working on the Athletes Village at the time of its failure and the firm's £30 million ($50 million/€34 million) contract has been taken over by Lend Lease.

FCC now has a 300-strong team on site working on the fit-out, commissioning and testing of the IBC. 

FCC is also currently involved in the 2012 European Football Championships, which is being co-hosted by the Ukraine and Poland, and its subsidiary Alpine is working on the construction of the national stadium in Warsaw which will host the opening game of the tournament.

The Spanish company has also been involved in the building of the Allianz Arena in Munich, the Dubai Cricket Stadium, as well as the renovations of the Real Madrid's Bernabéu and Barcelona's Nou Camp, two of the world's most famous and iconic sports venues.

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