Westfield Stratford City, which is set to open on September 13, will be the largest urban shopping centre in Europe with 1.9 million square foot of retail and leisure land, 300 shops and over 50 places to dine.

Major anchors for the retail centre are John Lewis, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer and although the majority of leases for Westfield Stratford City have been sold, there is still a limited number available, including space on the top floor of the venue for rights-holding and non-rights-holding broadcasters.

Westfield Stratford City are already set to host two non-rights-holding broadcasters during the London 2012 Games and with the location offering arguably the best view around of the Olympic Park as well as brand new facilities able to cater for all media demands, the retail centre are confident they will have at least five or six broadcasters working at the venue during the Games.

"At present, we are set to have two non-accredited broadcasters broadcasting from this venue but we are currently in talks with a number of accredited broadcasters and by the time we get to London 2012; I imagine we will have a combination of both here," said Mark Zimmer, the Westfield Stratford City Head of Olympic Brand Alliance.

"It obviously works for both because the venue is not actually on the Olympic Park but offers a spectacular view of it and it also has all the facilities to cater for the media following an in-depth feasibility study from us.

"The location is obviously a fantastic one for all of our partners and during the Games, we have so far confirmed that two major National Olympic Committees will be hosting cooperate functions with us.

"Retailers leasing here also have a huge advantage as 70 per cent of visitors to the Games will pass through Westfield City Stratford and therefore walk directly past the retail shops.

"We will clearly have to be careful regarding ambush marketing on the Olympic Games and abide by the strict laws in place.

"We also want to be good neighbours to the London 2012 Organising Committee so the Official Olympic Sponsors have been offered first refusal on taking up the space here.

"However, that doesn't rule out other companies being based here and receiving the huge advantage of having so many people here before, during and after the Games.

"Around 10 million people will visit the 2012 Olympics including 20,000 journalists, 10,500 athletes, 5,000 sponsors, 70,000 volunteers and 9.7 million ticketed spectators so to have around 70 per cent of them coming through Westfield City Stratford is a huge boost and illustrates the phenomenal benefits to retailers based here."

Westfield City Stratford is also set to be a hugely desirable location for retailers due to the first-rate public transport facilities that have been put in place because of the London 2012 Olympics.

Around £150 million has been invested by Westfield into public transport in the area while over £200 million infrastructure works have been project-managed by the company.

Around 58 trains per hour will stop at Stratford during the Games while there are also 5,000 car parking spaces although they will be closed to the public during London 2012.

In addition the venue will offer a variety of entertainment to Games spectators including a 17-screen 3D Vue cinema; Aspers Westfield Stratford City which will be the UK's largest casino in, a 14-lane bowling alley; a number of hotels including a four-star flagship Holiday Inn and exactly 50 cafes and restaurants including UK's first fresh food market in a shopping centre - The Great Eastern Market.

"There was a thought that after the competition at the Olympic Park was over, people would have to head into central London for entertainment," said Zimmer.

"But we have changed that with our offering of high quality entertainment and restaurants that will give spectators the chance to enjoy themselves once the competition is over.

"It really will be an amazing place to be in 2012 and is truly worthy to be called the gateway to the Games."

During the 2012 Games, Westfield Stratford City will be open around 18 hours per day while around 18,000 permanent jobs will exist in the venue after the Games.

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