The tender process for the award of the five year seating transition contract for the London Stadium has been concluded with London Legacy Development Corporation Investment Committee and E20 Board approving the appointment of the successful contractor called PHD Modular Access Services Ltd.
On their own website PHD describe themselves as “The World’s ‘Go-To’ Scaffolding Specialists.”
The award of the contract to a scaffolding specialist will raise the eyebrows of some supporters who were promised state of the art retractable seating moved on wheels at the touch of a button.
Financial accounts show the new company turned over £10m last year from scaffolding activities so the win of such a major contract is a major coup for them. A previous company called Alto Seating went bust in 2015 owing more than £4m to creditors.
Stadium owners E20 are trying to sue the administrators of Alto Seating for £1.4m while the administrators from the doomed company are trying to counter claim £1.5m from E20 for unpaid invoices.
LLDC CEO, David Goldstone gave evidence at the London Assembly Budget Monitoring sub-committee last year about the rising cost of the London Stadium operating costs and the impact of the failed retractable seating system which they now call relocatable seating.
Goldstone confirmed an extra £21m was spent on the doomed seating system last year and estimated costs could reach £8m per year to move the seats backwards and forward unless a better solution could be found.
So that’s that then. A crappy, cobbled together joke of a stadium. Remember the embarrassment of those Middlesborough guys using the canvas gaps as a trampoline? Looks truly dreadful and two bob.
I remember taking my children to the park in Maldon. They were bouncing up and down on the trampolines there. So embarrassing.
I think Neilalex you are better suited to whtid.You have the same credentials as some of them to be a grumpy,miserable fan lol
Thats it then i refuse to ever go to a match again until we have a little red button that moves seats backwards & forwards 😂
So, it’s not really retractable seating, but rather scaffoldable seating then.
What a legacy!
Please be advised HH you have inadvertently posted your latest moan on C&H instead of the morbid site. I trust you will ensure however that The Origional Miserable One will notify Michal in Poland of this travesty as we wouldn’t want any positive news to be associated with our club would we?
Rads I’ve actually twittered David Gold asking if my seat could have a personal recline button and a foot stall. It is disgusting I do not have this facility.
Yeah its bang out of order John,i have been waiting 3 months now for arm rests with a popcorn holder in them.B*stards 😂
H is a lost cause,he has had any resemblance of positivity knocked out of him long ago by the miseries mate 😂😂
Yeah you’re right it’s fantastic and everybody is simply moaning about nothing. We were told a world class retractable seating solution and we got world class scaffolding. Hey what’s the difference, stop moaning and enjoy the popcorn.
You might get a more objective viewpoint by looking at what opposition fans say about the thing. It was always going to be a compromise, everyone accepted that, but it has woefully under delivered on what were low expectations to begin with.
Still moaning then Neil.Does your moaning on the internet change anything.Err no,it just means others have to read it and think what a miserable bugger you are.
So when you’re lied to in life Stan you just swallow it and move on? You don’t say anything? All that tosh about a world class iconic (their favourite word) stadium, and the reality is we have a stadium that most neutral fans, as well as many, many WH fans regard as a joke, totally unfit for football.
I agree that we’re stuck with it, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to pretend it’s great, slap on your happy clappers face and face paint, and pretend it’s something its not.
But plenty like the stadium, Neil, think the issues to be minor and do not affect their enjoyment of the match, can see the positives gained from the move, can see through the *****ing by opposition supporters, can smell the anti board agenda in many of our own fans complaints and anticipate teething problems being eradicated. London Stadium over the 2015 Upton Park all day long for me and many others. At the end of the day you can ***** and moan for the rest of your life or you can get behind the club you proclaim to support it’s up to you. I suppose the other option is that you find another club. That’s not trying to diss you Neil that’s just the reality mate.
The two things are separate. I can support the team and dislike the stadium at the same time. I don’t go with my sons on a matchday and moan about the stadium, that would be pointless. But its perfectly legitimate to point out that we were effectively lied to about what it would be. I’m really not concerned about the Board as they come and go, whereas I’ll still hopefully be here supporting West Ham. If you like the stadium good luck to you I wouldn’t try and talk you out of it. The fact remains that it was not designed for football, and this latest nonsense confirming that the temporary scaffold seating is in fact permanent, just confirms what a cobbled together piece of crap it is, and will remain.
As far as the scaffolding/seating goes Neil we were not lied to. It was meant to be some fancy system on wheels but the company went bust. Hardly the boards fault is it? Not ideal but pointless me or you (although it’s your choice) getting upset over it. I’ve stood in 3 locations in the lowers and have been completely oblivious to what’s beneath my seat. The rest of the stadium is just fine, or will be soon, but I accept you and me won’t agree on that. Good luck to you mate.
Sure John, no worries. I’m not remotely blaming the Board, but is there no-one else in the world making retractable seating? As you say, we won’t agree on the stadium but trust me I wanted it to be great, I really did. And regardless of my views on the stadium itself I have always thought that it was a move we had to make, and I still do. Just absolutely gutted it is so ****.