MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group

THERE’S nothing like Hadrian’s Wall to define any North-South divide in Britain.

Indeed, depending on who you listen to, especially in the political rank and file, there may not even be such a divide.

Those who would have us believe that, though, are really facing a tough task. Study pretty well any credible set of economic output data and the southeast emerges as the engine room of UK plc.

Move beyond the concrete and Tarmac boundary of the M25 and the numbers representing wealth, output, investment, job creation and pretty much any other measure you care to look at diminish. Arguably the M25 marks a very real divide between a part of the UK economy at boiling point and those areas where it’s on a gentle simmer.

Close on six years ago, the International Olympic Committee chose London to host the 2012 summer games. The announcement was greeted with delight – but not in all quarters. In the English regions, for example, there were mutterings even then about the Games driving a shift in funding emphasis, that staging the biggest show in the world would suck investment and resource away from other, some might say more needy, parts of the country.

Since then, a lot of concrete has poured under the bridges spanning the East End’s various Olympic sites. Despite efforts to convince us that it’s a fair deal all round, a degree of scepticism remains about the economic gain to be derived in other parts of the country.

Last week, with due ceremony, that last bit of grass was laid inside the Olympic Stadium, marking a milestone in preparations.

It’s no coincidence that research has now appeared setting out the misgivings held by many in business over the economic impact of the games, the farther away from the venues you are. In Scotland, about as far away in mainland UK as you can get from east London, just 22% of businesses believe the UK economy will benefit from the Olympics, compared to 53% in the south-east of England.

Also, 57% of UK businesses polled by YouGov believe the £9.3bn budget for the extravaganza should have been cut as austerity measures were forced on the rest of the UK.

Investment of that magnitude concentrated in one geographical zone has its drawbacks, but hosting the Olympics must be good for UK plc.