Scots firms are first to be awarded contracts with The 2014 Ryder Cup through unique online portal

Two Scottish businesses have won the first of several supplier contracts for The 2014 Ryder Cup, as deals start to be struck in earnest through the event’s official procurement portal on the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) website.

Portakabin Events, headquartered in Hamilton, and SecuriGroup, based in Glasgow, were today confirmed by Ryder Cup Europe as suppliers after a competitive tender process.

Portakabin Group’s events division, Portakabin Events, employs 120 people around Scotland and will supply 80 temporary offices and 20 storage units to The 2014 Ryder Cup, which will act as the administrative heart of the event with all stakeholders, including the PGA of America, EventScotland and Ryder Cup Europe itself all using the facilities.

Jonathan Reid, General Manager at Portakabin said: “Portakabin Events division has been supplying offices, toilets, showers and associated services for more than 20 years now and has supplied many large-scale events including The Open Championship, The Ryder Cup, T in the Park and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay.

“We are delighted to be involved with The Ryder Cup again and look forward to working with a ‘local’ event for our Events business.”

SecuriGroup employs over 2,500 staff and is Scotland’s largest independent security company as well as one of the largest suppliers of safety and security staff throughout the UK. SecuriGroup will provide over 700 staff to the event to cover overall safety and security services.

John Malcolm QPM, Chairman of SecuriGroup, commented: “We’re delighted to be working with the largest golfing event in the world. The 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles will be a fantastic event and we are proud to have won such a prestigious contract.”

“SecuriGroup are an award-winning company and offer a complete security solution built on our company ethos of safety, courtesy and efficiency with internal values focused on loyalty, integrity and professionalism.”

Both contracts were hosted on the official Ryder Cup procurement portal and involved a detailed and competitive tendering process. Other contract opportunities available on the portal include transport; merchandising; waste management; barriers; fencing; telecommunications; and other infrastructure-related areas.

Antonia Beggs, Operations Director for The 2014 Ryder Cup, said: “The PCS portal has enabled us to streamline our procurement processes. Importantly, it has also given as many Scottish businesses as possible forewarning of the contracts on offer. We are already seeing the fruits of that labour as we have heard from many local suppliers keen to become involved with the event. Portakabin Events and SecuriGroup are experts in their respective fields and we are thrilled to have them involved, and to see the commitment from their senior management to The Ryder Cup.

“Safety and comfort are our priorities in putting on an event that will be remembered as one of the largest and most prestigious in the world. We are pleased to be awarding these important supplier contracts to Scottish companies as it will inevitably lead to the generation of local jobs.”

The Ryder Cup procurement portal is a joint initiative between Ryder Cup Europe, the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise. It is the first time that a series of private contracts will be available through what has been a public sector portal.

Linda McDowall, executive director at Scottish Enterprise said, “Companies, regardless of size and location, can for the first time bid for private sector supplier contracts for the Ryder Cup through the new procurement portal. This means more companies than ever can tap into a potentially lucrative revenue stream to grow their business, while gaining valuable experience of supplying a large-scale, global event. I’d encourage all businesses in Scotland to register on the procurement portal so that they can identify, and act on, the upcoming contracts.”

Ryder Cup Europe expects that around 5,000 people will be employed on projects directly related to the event, with many more likely to benefit through its supply chain*.

Sport Minister Shona Robison said: “The Ryder Cup, one of the biggest sporting events in the world, will bring enormous economic benefits to Scotland before, during and after the tournament. I am delighted that SecuriGroup and Portakabin Events, two Scottish companies, have won contracts to help the tournament run smoothly. This is the result of a great public-private collaboration between Ryder Cup Europe and Public Contracts Scotland, with many more contracts still to come.”