East of England 2012 Contracts Top £1 billion

The value of contracts for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games won by businesses in the East of England has gone above £1bn. The value combines the contracts won at every stage of the Games project, with contracts ranging from providing concrete for the construction of the Aquatics Centre – the contract awarded to A J Morrisoe based in Hertfordshire - to providing coaches for transport - awarded to Simonds Coaches Ltd in Norfolk.

Cllr Stephen Castle, Chairman of Nations and Regions in the East of England, stated ‘it’s extremely gratifying to see the variety of businesses in the region, both in type and size, which have enabled the Games to reach this advanced point, on time and on budget. Our regions input is visible in and around the park from the signage on the Greenway provided by John Anthony Signs in Essex to the seats in the stadium manufactured by Certwood, based in Luton.’

Over 400 contracts have been awarded to businesses in the region via CompeteFor (www.competefor.com), the on-line procurement portal funded by the regional development agencies, including the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), and Devolved Authorities.

Will Pope, Chair of EEDA, commented ‘it’s pleasing to see that our investment in CompeteFor has provided businesses in the region with the opportunities to win contracts, even more so when nearly 70% of the awards made via the site have included SMEs. This is certainly true in our region where SMEs such as Touch of Ginger in Cambridgeshire and Bruizer inSuffolkhave won contracts via the site.’

Will Pope added ‘even with just under a year to go, the opportunities continue to grow, with both the Crossrail project and the Metropolitan Police adding contract opportunities to the site. We will be running a number of events with regional partners to continue to promote both the CompeteFor site and other opportunities that the Games will provide.’

The events include opportunities for businesses already registered on CompeteFor, to find out how to maximise their use of the site. David Coulson, Regional London 2012 Lead said ‘CompeteFor provides a wealth of opportunities both in terms of contracts but also information about contracts won, business competitors and potential partnerships. Businesses can access this information for free and we will be able to show them how’. Details of these events and how to book can be found at www.risingtothechallengeeast.co.uk/business