Business benefits of Olympic and Commonwealth Games hailed as ‘economic gold dust’
Delegates heard that in the space of two years, two of the UK’s major cities will host two of the most prestigious sporting events on the planet representing the largest peacetime mobilisation of people and resources in the world.
The audience heard that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games alone are expected to generate 75,000 business opportunities worth over £8 billion whilst the possibilities of the Commonwealth Games are also significant.
Delegates heard that the procurement mechanisms which had been put into place - such as CompeteFor.com for the Olympics – make these opportunities available to companies of all sizes and all locations throughout the UK.
These opportunities are not just confined to construction of physical facilities but also represent contracts in sectors such as tourism, food and drink, digital markets and enabling technologies amongst others.
Crawford Gillies, Scottish Enterprise
Crawford Gillies, Scottish Enterprise’s Chairman, opened the event and stressed that in today's environment where so many contracts are being scaled down, delayed or cancelled, contracts for Games related goods and services, which must be delivered on time and on budget, are 'economic gold dust'. He also maintained that the Games offered an opportunity for businesses to build their capacity and emerge fitter and more able to compete on a global stage.
Watch Crawford Gillies' introduction
John Armitt, Olympic Delivery Authority
John Armitt, Chairman of The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), provided an overview of progress with developing the venues and infrastructure required to stage the London 2012 Games.
Watch John Armitt's presentation 
Download John Armitt's presentation (PowerPoint, 42Mb) 
Download John Armitt's presentation (PDF, 1.2Mb) Watch 'Beijing highlights', the video clip shown by John Armitt
Morag Stuart, Olympic Delivery Authority
Morag Stuart, Head of Procurement at the ODA, informed businesses of the range of direct contracts still to be let by the ODA and the huge scale and range and nature of supply chain opportunities that businesses could bid for by using the CompeteFor procurement portal. Watch Morag Stuart's presentation Download Morag Stuart's presentation (PowerPoint, 1.3Mb) Download Morag Stuart's presentation (PDF, 200kb)
Chris Perry, Buro Happold
Partnership working is a key objective of London 2012 where small businesses are being encouraged to partner each other so that they can collectively bid for larger contracts which would otherwise be out of their reach. Chris Perry of Buro Happold, which is working as part of Team McAlpine on the Olympic Park, went on to provide practical examples of how his company’s collaboration with other businesses has helped it to penetrate new European markets. Watch Chris Perry's presentation Download Chris Perry's presentation (PowerPoint, 6.8Mb) Download Chris Perry's presentation (PDF, 2.5Mb)
Councillor Archie Graham, Glasgow City Council
Councillor Archie Graham of Glasgow City Council provided an overview of contracts that are presently being let to procure the 2014 Commonwealth Games physical infrastructure and the legacy which Glasgow is seeking to generate from the Games. He also outlined Glasgow 2014’s progress in developing a procurement portal which would be used to procure the wider goods and services required to stage the Games. Watch Archie Graham's presentation Download Archie Graham's presentation (PowerPoint, 38Mb) Download Archie Graham's presentation (PDF, 4.4Mb)
Questions and answers
The speakers' presentations were followed by a question and answer session. Watch Q&A session (part 1) Watch Q&A session (part 2)