All to play for say Olympic organisers

Businesses eager to cash in on the opportunities offered by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are being offered a new service.

London 2012 has unveiled a new business section on the its website which offers regular articles on issues of interest to the business community, tender opportunities, progress updates on contracts let and key appointments and links to local help for businesses wishing to prepare for Games contracts. The website also offers a free registration service which will allow businesses to register their interest in finding out about new Games opportunities. Companies who register their interest will receive an automatic update from London 2012 with key announcements, including tender opportunities and also get updates on other key areas of progress.

“The 2012 Games are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” said Paul Deighton, Chief Executive of the London 2012 Organising Committee. “We will need a huge range of goods and services from businesses of all sizes, right across the UK. Through methods such as e-mail alerts, we will maintain ongoing communication with businesses to ensure they can take full advantage of all the opportunities available. I want to see as many businesses as possible benefit from being involved in the Games.”

The Olympic Games is the world’s biggest peacetime project and a huge logistical operation. There will be 10,500 athletes competing at 31 venues across the UK in 26 different sports, 20,000 media attending, 500,000 visitors a day to Olympic venues, and nine million tickets sold. The Paralympic Games will have 20 sports, 21 competition venues, 4,000 athletes, and 2,300 officials.

The vast majority of contracts for the games have yet to be tendered. The Olympic Delivery Authority, which is responsible for delivering the infrastructure for the games, will be letting contracts for the delivery of the venues, transport and other infrastructure between now and 2008, with many more subcontracting opportunities also becoming available. The London Organising Committee will procure the enormous range of goods and services required for the Games, including sports equipment, uniforms, food and drink, furnishings for venues, cars and hotel accommodation. Most of these contracts will begin in 2009 and go through to 2012 itself.

Businesses can find out more at www.london2012.com/business