We expect that between us and the Olympic Delivery Authority, London 2012 will allocate more than £6 billion worth of contracts and we estimate that there some 75,000 business opportunities either direct with London 2012 or in our supply chains. We hope - and expect - that these opportunities will exist across the whole country.
Our procurement needs will certainly be wideranging. Naturally, sport is a focus and some 900,000 pieces of sports equipment will be needed across the six weeks of competition - from the 3,000 pieces of gym and fitness equipment down to 600 table tennis balls! But it is not all sport. We will also be procuring some 200,000 temporary spectator seats, 17,000 beds and mattresses for the Olympic Village and more than 380,000 square metres of temporary buildings and tents. Then there is official merchandise, staff uniforms, venue dressing and security. And that's not to mention the minting of 300 gold medals to hang round the necks of Olympic and Paralympic champions!
The Olympic Delivery Authority, the organisation tasked with building the stadia and creating the Olympic Park, has already placed in the region of £1 billion worth of contracts. More than two thirds of these contracts have gone to SMEs and over half of the contracts have gone to businesses based outside London.
So my message is clear: No matter what business you are in and no matter where you are based, there will be huge opportunities for UK firms to share in the success of 2012. And now is the time to prepare, as sometimes it isnt always easy to see how your firm can win contracts - especially for busy SMEs. Our Business Network can help companies prepare, then compete for the major opportunities coming through the Games. Uoyds TSB is also supporting SMEs with the launch of their Official Business Guide For London 2012.
"Legacy" is a fundamental part of the ethos of our Games and history shows that once firms have the experience of bidding for and winning contracts in one tournament, they stand a good chance of repeating their success again. I'm not just talking about future Games. In fact, the opportunities lie much closer to home. After all, the United Kingdom is set to host a decade of sport: London and Birmingham will be holding world and European gymnastics championships before 2012, Glasgow will host the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and England is also bidding to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018.
Just as our athletes will already be in training for London 2012, so should businesses. The opportunities are there and we can help with advice and support. But as with all opportunities - they need to be grabbed.
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