There are less than 900 days to go and still plenty of business opportunities to secure, connected to the London 2010 Olympics.
It will take nearly $10b to put on the London 2012 Olympic and Para Olympic Games. That money is flowing into companies, large and small, who are helping the organisers put on what will be the great event on earth in 2012. So how do you get some business?
There are two organising bodies – the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) which is responsible for the infrastructure in 31 locations around the UK. The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Para Olympic Games (LOCOG) is in charge of actually running the events.
It is important to stay in touch with both of these to spot the opportunities as they arise. We recommend you sign up for email alerts at www.london2012.com/business, and also to put your profile on www.competefor.com. This is the website where companies who have secured tenders related to the Games, look for suppliers with whom they can match before they bid for jobs.
As an example, over 1,000 businesses have won contracts with the ODA through its leading project management consortium, CLM. The ODA is only going to deal with “tier one” suppliers so if you cannot deliver and fulfil an entire tender, then ODA is unlikely to be interested. You should link in with others.
LOCOG will spend most of its money during 2011 for test events, and preparing facilities, and also in 2012. It is likely that they will look for smaller businesses with marketing technology and professional services skills, but again, these contracts will go through their top level contractors.
The best tip is to keep an eye on the contracts that have already been awarded, as they are published on the web. You may know some of the companies by name, who are regularly winning the business, and then you should get in touch with them. Keep your eye on who is bidding for work and then chase the bidders.
Here is a simple summary of how you can “get to grips with Competefor.com” which is vital if you want to pick up some business from the 2012 Olympics – good luck.
