23 Aug 2023
By Alison McRae, Senior Director of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
The ‘Mur de Montrose’ was already a hot topic before the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships commenced earlier this month.
During the Men’s elite race, which saw 195 athletes from 58 countries compete in a 271.1km road race culminating in a gruelling 10 laps around the Glasgow circuit, you could see why there had been so much speculation. I caught Italy’s Matteo Trentin, the former European Champion, coming off his bike hard on the corner of Montrose Street, scattering the leader pack and causing mayhem for the chase group of cyclists and cars. A few minutes later he got back on his bike to continue and the Glasgow crowd’s roaring response to his incredible grit just summed up the essence of why Glasgow continues to be a favourite with major global sporting events organising committees. The spirit of Glasgow coupled with reliable organisation is an essential combination.
It's estimated that the 11-day event in Glasgow and across Scotland will have added some £67million to our economy and secured around one billion TV viewers. Initial data suggests that over 500,000 spectators enjoyed the world-class sporting action across the Glasgow-hosted events. As with any event of this scale there was disruption to businesses and the Chamber played its role in supporting the communications around road closures and event logistics through Get Ready Glasgow in advance, and for the duration of the event. We wait to see the full extent of the implications of this, alongside the benefits of the anticipated boost in visitor numbers longer term, when the full economic impact assessment is completed by EY.
We also played a convening role alongside Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Council to deliver ‘Glasgow House’. This dynamic business hub showcased not only the prowess of Glasgow in innovation, talent, creativity and digital skills, but also catered to business leaders, academics, international delegations, and political figures. This ability to have cross sectoral industry knowledge exchanged alongside the opportunity to promote the great work being delivered by the city was invaluable, according to the Technology Innovation Centre’s Head of Operations, Ann-Marie Campbell, who said the quality of animated and focused conversations which were facilitated is a testament to the city’s partnership working, and that we need more of this kind of open knowledge exchange and interaction.
Every day commenced with the Chamber hosting a ‘Warming the Wheels’ breakfast, kicked off by entrepreneur Danny Stevenson of Two Birds Fitness. These were followed by insights from thought leaders across eight themes including built environment, innovation districts, transport and sustainability with 29 events hosted, 40 speakers participating and approximately, 1,000 guests welcomed.
Glasgow House shared our city’s accomplishments as well as celebrating the work of new city actors like Bruntwood SciTech’s £60m Met Tower transformation which will open in summer 2025.
The Chamber also created ‘Grounds for Recycling’ in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, Glasgow Life and UCI. More than 60 businesses took part in the 20-day campaign which resulted in a phenomenal 4.7 tonnes of used coffee grounds being collected and delivered by e-cargo bikes to Glasgow Botanic Gardens to boost natural habitats. A clear message from this project is if it can be done for a short-term international event, then there is potential to scale activity to become a part of the city’s efforts to recycle and repurpose all used coffee grinds innovatively.
As we now reflect on an incredible 11 days, I know Billy Garrett, Director of Culture, Tourism and Events and his Glasgow Life team will already be in full planning mode to host the World Athletics Indoor Championships which will take place in the Emirates Arena from 1-3 March 2024.
Falling within the qualification period for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Glasgow hopes to see up to 700 competitors from more than 130 countries taking part. Following the recent UCI event’s success, the bar is set high as Glasgow prepares to envelope the world into her bosom once again.
This article was first published in The Herald on Wednesday 23 August 2023
