One man who was particularly pleased with the UK's last-gasp victory in the Olympics bid was Clifford Chance's Simon Williams. The finance assistant was an integral part of the firm's team that advised Barclays as lender to the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Locog). Although not the most technically demanding instruction Williams has ever handled, there can surely never have been a higher profile facility agreement.

Williams' team, led by partner Karen Hodson, was first instructed in June, but inevitably it was after the July award of the Games that things really began to move. By October, the financing for Locog's general corporate requirements for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games was in place.