Five minutes with ... Dennis Hone

How are you feeling now the big handover to LOCOG has been done?

Fine. There is still a lot for us to do, so it’s busier now than it has been for a while because for some time we were just working inside the venues but now we’re outside working on everything from landscaping to paving. We’re still very much engaged.

There is a bit of concern of LOCOG coming in with such a short time to get everything up together for the Games and not being an experienced construction client. Would you agree?

You have to look at the profile of what they are putting up. They are not digging deep foundations or anything or doing major works. A lot of their work will be putting up prefabs which are completely different to main construction schemes. I have every confidence in them because they are going to want to show their best face. I’m not at all worried.

What will happen after the Games for the ODA, and you personally, then?

I suppose when you put your whole life towards something it’s a bit strange when it comes to an end. But I definitely don’t want the ODA to hang around past our sell by date. The OPLC is the future. They were set up three years before the Games and they are in a fantastic position compared to previous games. So we don’t want to hang around. We just want to do our job and ensure all the right handovers go smoothly. Then we will take the experience leant from the Olympics and I hope that everyone from the ODA goes on to get good jobs off the back of it.