The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced that more than 1,000 UK businesses have already benefited from the London 2012 Olympics, winning over £5 billion of contracts to prepare the infrastructure and venues for the games.
Where has the work gone?
Of the 1,036 suppliers that have won work with the ODA:
- 98 per cent are UK based.
- 68 per cent are small and medium sized (where company size is known).
- 46 per cent are based outside London.
- One in ten are based in one of the five host London Boroughs.
John Armitt, ODA chairman, said:
“Thousands of companies across the UK are already winning gold from London 2012. Businesses of all sizes and from every sector are working together to deliver the largest project this country has seen for generations and are reaping the benefits of millions of pounds worth of work. For example, a Scottish company has won a contract to build the Basketball structure and a Northern Irish company is constructing the main pedestrian bridge within the Olympic Park.”
These contracts have, in turn, created thousands more supply chain opportunities.
Using CompeteFor
The direct contract opportunities are being advertised through CompeteFor, a “dating agency” that aims to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to win public sector work by matching registered companies to the available opportunities.
Companies who have not registered with CompeteFor should consider doing so; with almost three years to go before the Olympic and Paralympic Games open, there are still many more opportunities. For example, over 1.1 million pieces of sporting equipment will be required, including 1,200 hockey balls.
How is work at the Olympic site progressing?
Over the past two years, the ODA has set out in advance the milestones it plans to achieve for different phases of the construction of the infrastructure and venues:
- The first ten milestones, Demolish, dig, design, focused on preparing the site for construction.
- The second ten milestones, The big build: foundations, focused on putting in place foundations for the main venues and infrastructure.
- The third ten milestones, The big build: structures, focuses on the structures to be completed by 27 July 2010.
The ODA is proud of the fact that it achieved the second milestones ahead of schedule, in July 2009.
Caroline Pope of Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP recently visited the Olympics site – see her blog.
The ODA’s strong progress on the Olympic Park project means that it should reach completion long before the Games begin. While this allows time for test events, it also raises the question of who will pay for maintaining the facilities between completion and the start of the Games. Building reports that neither the ODA nor the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) have budgeted for this cost, estimated at £90 million. The two are in discussions about who will pay.
Building reports that the Government will take on the £1.1 billion debt that the LDA accumulated when it purchased the Olympic Park site. The move arises because the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) is due to take ownership of the land from the LDA shortly, but is unwilling to take on the LDA’s debt. The OPLC is responsible for the regenerating the Olympic Park after the Games, so the Government is keen to ensure that the land transfer goes smoothly.