Scottish firms visit Olympic Park to compete for London 2012 business

A year on from the launch of the London 2012 Business Network a group of Scottish companies and business leaders met with Olympic Park contractors and London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) representatives to discuss opportunities helping to deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The ODA also published its latest Business Benefits figures that show 860 companies have won over £3.5bn worth of work directly with the ODA. Almost all (98%) of these suppliers are UK based, over two-thirds (69%) are small or medium sized businesses and just under half are based outside of London. Of over 54,000 companies already registered on CompeteFor, the online business dating agency, over 90 per cent are small and medium sized, and over 1700 opportunities worth millions of pounds in total have been advertised on the service.

The firms that visited London 2012 represented a cross-section of Scottish business including IT, security and manufacturing. Scottish companies that have already won work supplying the ODA include BiP Solutions, from Glasgow, which is assisting the ODA deliver strong supply chain opportunities and the Miller Partnership is part of the team reviewing technical standards of venues.

ODA Chairman John Armitt said: 'We want to work with the best in British business to deliver the venues, infrastructure and parklands for the London 2012 Games and legacy. Companies of all sizes from across the country have won work directly with the ODA. We still have significant Olympic Park work to place however the bulk of opportunities are now through our contractors and CompeteFor is already helping companies access this work.'

LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe said: 'As LOCOG moves from detailed planning to delivery, there is all to play for as we begin to release hundreds of opportunities for the best UK companies of all sizes to compete for work to supply our Games-time goods and services. The 2012 Games is already proving a golden opportunity to ensure growth in the UK economy and leave a legacy of fitter British businesses with the expertise of supplying the world’s largest sporting event.'

Tessa Jowell Minister for the Olympics said: 'London 2012 is providing jobs, training, and billions of pounds worth of contracts for UK firms.

'With 54,000 companies so far registered, and many supply chain contracts now coming on stream, CompeteFor and the wider London 2012 Business Network is playing a fundamental role in engaging business and highlighting the opportunities that the Games present to them.

'There will be benefits across the whole of the UK as a result of the Games, demonstrated by the visit by Scottish companies to the Olympic Park today.'

Enterprise Minister Jim Mather said: 'Opportunities provided by the 2012 Olympics and 2014 Commonwealth Games for Scottish business, including the construction industry, are to be welcomed. We must ensure Scottish companies are able to take maximum advantage of these events to help Scotland emerge faster and stronger from the current downturn and stimulate job creation. In the meantime the Scottish Government will build on its economic recovery programme and efforts to provide advice and support for Scottish firms feeling the effects of global economic uncertainty.'

Scottish Enterprise chief executive Jack Perry said: 'The Olympic contracts offer great opportunities for companies, particularly in the current economic climate. The contracts are guaranteed, unlike others that may be scaled down during the downturn, and could go on to provide further opportunities for Scottish companies with the forthcoming Commonwealth Games.'

The ODA and LOCOG expect to allocate over £6bn of work as part of an estimated 75,000 future business opportunities covering direct contractors and their supply chains over the coming years.

The London 2012 Business Network was launched a year ago at Old Trafford to provide information about London 2012 related business and events and link to the ‘CompeteFor’ service, a business ‘dating agency’ that matches companies to opportunities supplying London 2012 contractors.

London 2012 has engaged with around 4,000 companies during visits to every nation and region and is now arranging for companies and business leaders from across the country to visit the Olympic Park to meet ODA contractors and LOCOG representatives to discuss future opportunities.

LOCOG procurement for Games-time goods and services will start to build from the spring onwards this year. LOCOG contracts have already been won by companies around the UK to supply the handover performances in Beijing as part of the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, the VISA London 2012 Handover Party in the Mall and a number of office based services.

LOCOG has recently advertised a range of opportunities from Marketing, Medical, Ticketing and Anti Doping Services.

London 2012 business benefits:

• 860 contractors have won work supplying the ODA worth over £3.5bn in total.
• Over two thirds (69%) are small and medium sized.*
• Just under half (46%) are based outside of London.
• More than one in ten (13%) is based in the Olympic Park Host Boroughs.
• 98 per cent are based in the UK.
• Over 54,000 (54,477) companies have registered on CompeteFor, 94 per cent are small or medium size companies with less than 250 employees.
• 37,670 of companies registered on CompeteFor are based outside of London.
• Over 1700 opportunities have been advertised on CompeteFor to date.

Notes to editors:

How CompeteFor works;

• ODA and LOCOG are advertising their direct contract opportunities online through CompeteFor, which is co-funded by Regional Development Agencies and three devolved nations, and direct London 2012 contractors appointed will be encouraged to advertise their supply chain opportunities through the system. For example all contractors that have been awarded ODA infrastructure or venue contracts are registered as buyers on CompeteFor.
• Companies at every level of the London 2012 supply chain will be encouraged to advertise their supplier opportunities through CompeteFor. After registering basic company information any interested business can view the opportunities advertised. Companies can then complete a business profile, which involves answering a series of simple questions, to be able to compete for opportunities.
• A company’s business profile is automatically tested against a small number of minimum standards in areas such as health and safety. If these requirements are not met the company is automatically referred to tailored business support to help improve their performance. This service is provided by Business Link in England and the support services in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
• Once a company’s profile is successfully published on CompeteFor they are automatically matched to opportunities which suit their business and invited, by email, to apply for them by filling out a short, tailored application form. The buyer advertising the contract then selects a shortlist of companies and invites them to formally tender through the buyer’s own procurement system.
• Details of the winning bidder(s) are published on CompeteFor and unsuccessful bidders receive feedback from the buyer. Throughout the process local business support agencies are on hand to help companies maximise their chances of success.

– Ends –

The construction of the venues and infrastructure of the London 2012 Games is funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency.

Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog.