Keith Morgan has been appointed as the new Chair of London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC). In this role, Keith will work closely with the Mayor of London and LLDC’s CEO Shazia Hussain to shape the Park’s next chapter, ensuring the delivery of new homes across the Park and harnessing the Park’s assets and east London’s diverse talent to drive forward inclusive growth.

Keith brings extensive experience in economic development, innovation, investment and finance. He was the founding CEO of the British Business Bank, the UK’s economic development bank for business and an Executive Director of UKFI, which managed the government's shareholdings in the nationalised banks. 

Prior to UKFI, Keith was at Banco Santander where he was an Executive Director of its US business and was previously a member of the Executive Committee of Abbey National in the UK. Keith is currently a board member for a range of financial and government organisations and is also a Trustee for the Design Council, the UK’s national champion for design. He was appointed CBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours list for services to small business finance.

To mark his appointment, Keith shared his thoughts on how he will help to drive forward inclusive growth at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park:

What interested you in becoming the Chair of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and how do you see yourself helping the Park grow in the coming years?

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is already a world-class sporting and leisure district and has potential to be a world-class innovation district and a world-class cultural district too. Very few places can lay claim to that, and the foundations are already firmly in place. My role will be to work closely with the executive team to activate and build partnerships in these areas and, by working closely with the surrounding boroughs, bring commerce, jobs and increased well-being to the people who live and work in and around the Park, spreading those benefits broadly in an inclusive growth strategy.

Our new plan focuses on three big ideas: Habitat, Inclusive Talent, and Health & Wellbeing. How would these ideas shape what you focus on as Chair?

With a new framework in place, the focus now is to develop and implement meaningful strategies that deliver benefits along these three big themes.

The Habitat of the Park, its buildings and infrastructure, are well-established and the immediate focus will be on finalising and launching the impressive East Bank cultural quarter that encompasses Sadler’s Wells East, V&A East, London College of Fashion, UCL's East Campus and BBC Music Studios.

Inclusive Talent represents a huge opportunity to shape a strategy and a range of programmes that develop talent and catalyse job opportunities in all the areas in which the Park operates. This will build on the impressive foundations already established and will involve close collaboration with the surrounding growth boroughs.

Our goal is to have a positive impact on the Health and Wellbeing of all the people who live and work in and around the Park. The enviable collection of green and blue spaces, sports, leisure and cultural facilities forms a backdrop for establishing a strategy and a call for partnerships in this area.

Thinking about local communities, how do you believe we can create opportunities and experiences that genuinely benefit local people?

Hearing the voice and understanding the needs of local communities has to be at the heart of everything we do. We need to engage with residents, schools, universities, community groups and the surrounding growth boroughs to tailor programmes that deliver broad benefits as part of our commitment to inclusive growth. This includes promoting access to jobs and work experience, creating opportunities to enjoy free cultural programming as well as ticketed events and curating welcoming public spaces where community members can develop their own activities.

On the appointment, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am delighted to have appointed Keith Morgan as the new Chair of LLDC. LLDC has delivered the best Olympic and Paralympic legacy anywhere in the world and I have no doubt that Keith’s expertise and experience will help us to deliver more homes and ensure Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park remains a top destination for Londoners and visitors to enjoy, as we work together to build a better, more prosperous city for everyone.”