Business Opportunities for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

The Olympic Games is the biggest event in the world.  Almost every country in the world participates in the Olympics; and about three quarters of all countries take part in the Paralympics.  There will be 26 different sports in the London Olympics, plus 20 different Paralympic sports.  So London 2012 is the equivalent of 46 World Championships over a six week period!  With all the goods and services they need to stage them effectively.

London 2012 is still letting millions of pounds worth of contracts.  The primary route to accessing these opportunities is through the COMPETEFOR.com system.  Most London 2012 first-tier tenders will be advertised on CompeteFor, plus many more of the lower-tier tenders.  CompeteFor provides:-

• a free-of-charge, single, early-warning, source of London 2012 Tenders
• Tier One, and Lower Tier Tenders from London 2012
• seamless support for firms from Business Link West Midlands, who will help companies to register on the system, at no charge

Several firms in Stafford Borough have already won tenders to supply London 2012, including:-

• Intatec Ltd - supplied shower units, May 2009, to W H Foster & Sons, on the Olympic Park
• Paperhouse - supplied paper, April 2010, to Edwards Coaches
• ScreenSafe UK Ltd - supplied drug and alcohol testing services to the Aquatics Centre
• St Gobain Adhesives - supplied abrasives to KEM Edwards on the Olympic Park, March 2010
• Whitney Engineering Ltd - supplied specialist skips to the Aquatics Centre 

2012 - Local Business Opportunities

The Ricoh Arena, Coventry will host matches in the men’s and women’s football tournaments for the 2012 Games. Estimated impact £30-50 million, from expenditure by London 2012, FIFA, 2012 sponsors, City of Coventry, etc.  They will require hotels, transport, event management services, security, catering, hospitality services, translators, etc. 

The 2012 Torch Relays will pass through the region over several days on routes yet to be defined between 18 May to August 2012.  Each day the Relay will have three public events - the start; lunch-time and a major public entertainment event each evening.  The latter especially will require substantial event management services.

Free 2012 Sector Briefings

Monthly briefings are available to businesses to provide more detailed information on opportunities for different business sectors and also cover local activity related to 2012, such as the Torch Relays and Pre-Game Training camps. 

They are available, FREE, at http://www.wmfor2012.co.uk/. 

After 2012 - The Legacy

Business opportunities will not dry up after the completion of the Paralympic Games in September 2012.  Instead, many hundreds of millions of pounds worth of contracts will be available, for many years afterwards, because of:-

• adaptation of the Olympic stadium to its post-Games use
• reduction of seating in the Aquatics Centre
• dismantling and removal of the four demountable stadia on the Olympic Park
• about 7,000 new homes built on the Olympic Park site
• conversion of the 2,800 apartments in the Olympic Village from “hotel” format for athletes, to conventional apartments
• conversion of the International Media Centre (IMC) on the Park to office and workspace
• IMC multi-storey car park reduced in size by 50%
• 40 new office blocks, giving 4 million sq ft, to be built on land used during Games-time for hospitality tents and LOCOG back-office functions
• conversion of the Olympic Park to its long-term, public-park, mode; and maintenance of that format