Olympics tenders are available to all

by Catherine Woods - Wednesday, 11th June 2008 - (1) comment

Businesses outside of London have been reassured they won’t be discriminated against when competing for contracts for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Ian Barlow, the chairman of Olympics-focused organisation London Business Network, has told the CBI Business Summit that 46 per cent of the Games contracts awarded so far have been given to companies based outside of the capital. Barlow noted that there is a big emphasis on bringing Olympic-related benefits to other UK communities, not just London.

Approximately 6,500 businesses have registered their interest in tendering on a procurement website set up for the Games but Barlow said at least double that number is needed. Some 15,000 Olympic contracts will be awarded through the CompeteFor site.

Two-thousand contracts have already been awarded including for the basketball and handball sites, landscaping and facilities management. Ninety-eight per cent have been won by UK firms and 70 per cent of those were small- and medium-sized businesses.

Jeff Moore is the chief executive of the East Midlands Development Agency. He said 27 companies across the East Midlands have already done business directly with the Olympic Development Authority. One of these companies is Golder Associates in Nottinghamshire, which has completed contaminated land assessments for potential Olympic sites.

Moore is confident that money will flow out of London to the rest of the UK as a result of the city hosting the 2012 Games. He cited the Sydney Olympics where other states in Australia, not just New South Wales, benefited.

“It’s never too soon to register your business with CompeteFor,” he added.

The CBI Business Summit was organised by Caspian Publishing.

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1 Comments

June 11, 2008 4:01pm
Dan Martin Says:

The 70% of contracts going to SMEs figures actually only refers, in the Olympic Delivery Authority's own words, to "82% of suppliers where company size is known". It would be interesting to know where the other 18% of contracts have gone and how big the contracts are worth. It would also be worth finding out the ODA's definition of SMEs. Most small business entrepreneurs I've spoken to are unconvinced they will gain any real benefits from the Games. Dan Martin Editor, BusinessZone.co.uk