Wembley National Stadium

Client: Wembley National Stadium Ltd
Project Value: Confidential
Location: Wembley, London, UK

The development of Wembley National Stadium had reached a critical point when, after seven years of the Football Association attempting to reach financial close for a viable scheme, short-term funding for the project was coming to an end. With the support of the funding bank at the time of appointment, a key role was undertaken by a member of our team in: leading the management of due diligence and taking the development to financial close; reconciling the needs of the Football Association, Multiplex, Barclays, then WestLB, and Credit Suisse First Boston as funding banks, lawyers, sponsors and end-users, in close co-operation with the Department for Culture Media and Sport, Sport England and the London Development Agency to reach consensus on PPP output specifications; implementation of OGC approved risk management and the meeting of HM Treasury Value for Money criteria; and achieving successful financial close to enable the project to proceed.

The new approach to the achievement of financial close and the experience gained from the successful assignment in managing due diligence, including the engagement and management of stakeholders and early structured risk management, has become best practice in reducing the time taken for projects to achieve financial close.