WINTER | FEATURE
Eastern promise
East London is popping-off for events, with 2012’s
Olympic ambition spurring a vibrant and eclectic scene
The O2
The O2 is widely credited for bringing
the East to life. But it hasn’t rested on
its laurels.
In June 2007, the venue officially
opened with a concert from Bon
Jovi in the arena. Since then, The O2
has transformed into a fully-fledged
entertainment destination.
The O2 is owned and operated by
AEG Europe, part of the Anschutz
Entertainment Group. In one of the
first naming rights deals of its kind,
O2/Telefonica partnered with AEG
to create The O2 and in 2017, the
agreement was renewed for another
decade. Since opening, over 70 million
people have visited The O2. 2.4m tickets
were sold in 2017 and nearly 20m tickets
have been sold overall.
Recent developments include the
completion of ‘Project Loop’ that sees
The O2’s offering swell to include
ICON Outlet; a 210,000 sq ft premium
urban outlet developed by AEG and
Crosstree Real Estate Partners, a
4,645sqm extension to the existing
Cineworld and a 2,787sqm Oxygen
20
Freejumping trampoline park. Now
ICON Outlet is open, visitors can do
a full ‘loop’ of The O2, walking 360
degrees around the central arena.
The O2 was the first arena to obtain
a Gold Standard from disability-led
charity Attitude is Everything and has
since implemented 112 new features to
meet the latest Gold Standard.
From a sustainability perspective,
The O2 has a bespoke on-site waste
compound and currently commits less
than 1% of its 3,500 tonnes of waste per
annum to landfill; segregating all oils,
cardboard, wood, food, glass and Dried
Mixed Recyclables on-site to reduce
waste impact and has almost completed
a major energy reduction project,
which has resulted in the reduction of
the arena’s electrical consumption by
approximately 2 million kWh per year.
2018 has seen some of the world’s
biggest tours visit North Greenwich
including Kendrick Lamar, Justin
Timberlake (who
played