JLL’s triathlon-inspired LEGO sculptures sprint up to Leeds

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY JLL AS PART OF COLUMBIA THREADNEEDLE WORLD TRIATHLON LEEDS

A collection of three life-size LEGO people have been unveiled in Leeds by property consultants JLL.

The triathlon-inspired sculptures, made entirely from LEGO bricks, have made their home in the city to mark JLL’s sponsorship of the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds which takes place on 11 and 12 June.

Hosted in the city’s three main shopping centres – The Light, Victoria Quarter and Trinity Leeds – the three sculptures will be available for the public to see until 17 June. Featuring a swimmer, cyclist and a two metre tall runner, the models were made from 135,000 LEGO bricks and took over 600 hours to build.

JLL is hoping shoppers will pose with the sculptures for a fun selfie and a chance to win LEGO vouchers. To enter the competition, people need to post their selfie with #JLLJustLovesLeeds on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to be in with a chance to win.

Jeff Pearey, Lead Director of JLL’s Leeds office, said: “We are excited to welcome our LEGO triathletes to the city and hope, as we get ever closer to race day, that they will help bring this world class sporting event to life.

“The sport of triathlon is becoming the new golf in the business world and supports our aim as an organisation to provide a rounded environment for all. It’s a great way to engage employees and clients in an event that encourages teamwork and healthy competition alongside fitness and well-being.

“JLL, which has a significant presence in Leeds through our estate agency and commercial business, is proud to be an official partner. Our involvement cements our already strong presence within the sport of triathlon as a result of our corporate sponsorship of double world champion Helen Jenkins as well as last year’s ITU World Triathlon Series event held in London.”

The global property firm, which has over 120 staff in Leeds, has blazed its own trail in the sport by hosting its own JLL Property Triathlons, including its annual event at Dorney Lake near Windsor, which is now one of the UK’s top five largest triathlons.

Leader of Leeds City Council, Councillor Judith Blake, added: “The LEGO sculptures look great and we look forward to seeing them in Leeds ahead of the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds. I’m sure they will be very popular with people keen to follow a trail through the city centre to see them all. As a company with a strong presence in the city we are delighted to be working with and have the support of JLL for this event, which promises to be a fantastic weekend showcasing Leeds to the watching world.“

Jack Buckner, Chief Executive of British Triathlon, concluded: “It’s fantastic to see JLL taking a fun and engaging approach to bringing their relationship with the event to life. The triathlon-inspired LEGO sculptures will all add to the buzz that is constantly building around the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds and being located in the city’s main shopping centres, I hope will attract even more newcomers to our sport to come down and watch the world’s best on 12 June.”

The much-anticipated Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, which is part of UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded #EveryRoadtoRio event series, will provide the British public with the opportunity to watch leading GB triathletes battle for glory against some of the world’s best triathletes in their last race on home soil ahead of Rio.

The Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, organised by British Triathlon in partnership with Leeds City Council, also provides almost 6,000 recreational triathletes with the unique opportunity to compete on the same course as the elite athletes from around the world across a range of different distances, suitable for first timers’ right through to experienced triathletes. A limited number of entries are still available for the Saturday – for more information please visit: http://leeds.triathlon.org/enter_now/go_tri_saturday/.

For the latest information on the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, please visit http://leeds.triathlon.org.

– ends –

With Hi-res images - Jeff Pearey, head of Leeds office along with members of the JLL team, with the Lego cyclist in Victoria Quarter, Leeds.

Further images available on request.

Notes to editors

About JLL

JLL is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialised real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. A Fortune 500 company with annual fee revenue of $5.2 billion and gross revenue of $6.0 billion, JLL has more than 280 corporate offices, operates in more than 80 countries and has a global workforce of more than 60,000.

One of Leeds’ property consultants, JLL advises on some of the most exciting and well-known residential and commercial property developments and projects across Yorkshire.

Notes to editors

The Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds is a partnership between British Triathlon, Leeds City Council, UK Sport, ITU, with Columbia Threadneedle as the main title sponsors of the event.

Important route information

All properties along the route impacted by the event will have received two letters with initial details, information and guidance concerning the event. Roads around the route are expected to close by 4am, with closures starting as early as 12am on 12 June, and will be closed for a minimum of 12 hours with the route needing to be completely clear of vehicles.

Access for emergency vehicles will be maintained through the event and emergency services, health and social care providers, community meals at home and other agencies are working together to ensure care and support individuals may need is provided.

About Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset management group that provides a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. With more than 2000 people including over 450 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia, we manage £323 billion ¹ of assets across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, asset allocation solutions and alternatives.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments started its successful relationship with the ITU World Series in 2013 and has since become Global Financial Services Partner.www.columbiathreadneedle.com

All figures as at 31 March 2016. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.

Source: Ameriprise Financial Q1 2016 earnings release.

The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings

As a global asset manager Columbia Threadneedle Investments recognises the importance of being the best in the field, not just at home, but on a global basis. The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings are used to determine the best performing triathletes across the ITU World Triathlon Series.

The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Leader Trophy is presented to the top male and female elite athlete at each ITU World Triathlon Series event. In 2016 the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Leader will continue to wear the bespoke race markings and carry the colours of the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings logo on their bike rack in transition.

Launched in 2015, the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Report identifies the trends and interesting statistics after each event throughout the season.

The official Columbia Threadneedle Rankings can be accessed at http://wts.triathlon.org/rankings. Engage with the conversation on social media using the hashtag #CTrankings, or follow @CTinvest_Tri.

British Triathlon is the governing body for the sport in Great Britain. It is responsible for raising the profile and delivering elite performance for Triathlon. Triathlon is a fast growing, dynamic and modern Olympic & Paralympic sport with talented world class athletes, coaches and support staff, focused around delivering world-class events and medal winning performances. www.britishtriathlon.org

Leeds City Council is the second-largest local authority in England with a population of around 776,000. Leeds has a very proud sporting heritage and we are committed to encouraging sport as a way of promoting the city and healthy lifestyles, as well as bringing world-class events, building towards our ambition to become European Capital of Culture 2023. www.leeds.gov.uk

UK Sport is the nation’s high performance sports agency responsible for the strategic investment of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into Olympic and Paralympic sports and bringing major sporting events to the UK. www.uksport.gov.uk/events

The ITU is the world governing body for the Olympic sport of Triathlon and all related MultiSport disciplines. ITU is proudly committed to supporting the development of the sport worldwide through strong relationships with continental and national federations, working with its partners to offer a balanced sport development programme from grassroots to a high performance level. www.triathlon.org

A Wanda Sports Holdings company, IRONMAN operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^®Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, Iron Girl^®, IRONKIDS^®, six of nine International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series races, road cycling events including the UCI Velothon Majors Series, mountain bike races, premier marathons and other multisport races. The iconic IRONMAN^® Series of events is the largest participation sports platform in the world, with more than 260 events across 42 countries and over 680,000 participants annually. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.