The Basics

The London 2012 Olympics is a £9.3 billion (A$20 billion) project. Of this, £5.3bn will be required to construct the venues, and the remainder will be spent on staging the games, ceremonies, and other requirements, including security.

Main organisations involved

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)

This is a government organisation responsible for delivering the principal venues and associated Olympic Park infrastructure. The ODA has appointed the CLM consortium to oversee the construction process.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG)

This is a private sector organisation which is responsible for delivering the Games overlay, which includes all temporary structures, supporting services, such as security, transport, and catering, the organisation of the games themselves, including IT services and infrastructure, and cultural events, including the opening and closing ceremonies. LOCOG raises finance through ticket sales and sponsorship.

Procurement and timetable

All contracts by the ODA and LOCOG are let strictly in accordance with European Union (EU) procurement rules. The ODA reports that the majority of the main construction contracts have now been let, in preparation for the main construction activity in 2009/2010.

There are of course many thousands of subcontracts still to be let, but these will be managed by the supply channel.

LOCOG is still at a relatively early stage of development. It will, though, ultimately be directly responsible for a much higher number of smaller value contracts. Tendering activity is expected to reach a peak in 2011.

The tendering process itself is largely handled online through the London 2012 portal.

This includes a site called Compete For, which is a London 2012 business information service, on which companies interested in games business should register their company profile. It also acts as a brokerage service between buyers and potential sellers of products and services.

All potential suppliers are directed to this site as a first step.

All suppliers of generic products and services, such as catering services, basic construction products, or standard ICT products, would be expected to access 2012 opportunities exclusively through this service, and no meetings with LOCOG procurement staff would be granted.

In addition, there are the main sponsoring organisations, which have exclusive rights to supply various goods and services. For instance, the technology sponsor is Atos Origin, who provide all ICT infrastructure and services for the running of the games. A list of all sponsors can be found on the London 2012 website.

Introducing Australian capability to LOCOG

The opportunity for Australian suppliers lies in the specialised games related experience arising from involvement major events from Sydney 2000 onwards.

A key aim for suppliers with proven games experience would be to influence the key specifiers and event buyers at as early a stage as possible.

Within ODA / LOCOG there are groups of people responsible for the delivery of each individual venue and operational aspect of the games. They are appointed and active at different times as the organisation moves through the project plan, and many roles related to the games organisation have yet to be filled.

In addition, most of the specifiers are in private sector companies who were awarded the lead on various projects, they then specified the down-stream requirements and feed that to LOCOG for tendering etc ODA / LOCOG therefore only have a limited ability to deliver an audience, or even accurately identify, the key specifiers across the broad range of Olympic activities.

In summary, the LOCOG procurement directorate can be useful in identifying parts of the supply chain, but should be used as part of a much more diverse contact program, which should consist of individual themed groups of capability aimed at the broad range of organisations involved. Their advice is to work with small groups of suppliers focussed on specific themes or issues, for instance, temporary seating solutions, and services for Olympic overlay.

Action

1. Register on the London 2012 CompeteFor website

This is an essential first step, as ODA / LOCOG will not receive information relating to tenders by any other means. It also ensures you are kept informed of forthcoming opportunities via email alerts.

To apply for contracts advertised on CompeteFor as a supplier, all you have to do is complete and publish a full business profile at the Registration page. This will also allow you to track your activity and search for other suppliers with whom you may wish to partner.

2. Register your interest with Austrade

Austrade are working closely with State Government sports industry specialists (including the Australian International Sporting Event Secretariat, and the Industry Capability Network) in developing contacts with a wide range of UK companies and organisations with a connection to the Olympics. We are keen to promote specific Australian capability, and would be interested to receive profiles from relevant Australian suppliers.

Our aim is to present portfolios of specialist capability to clusters of related contacts. We are currently actively seeking to identify companies with specialist capabilities in the following areas:

• Specialist design and construction of sports infrastructure
• Sports training
• Sustainable construction (green games)
• Security, consultancy, ICT, CCTV, physical
• Sports equipment
• Specialist services for major event management
• Experience with Olympic overlay issues
• Temporary seating
• Services and technology relating to ceremonies
• Any companies with an involvement with the Beijing Olympics

Contact

Companies are welcome to contact Austrade London direct at the following details:

Colin Biggs
Senior Business Development Manager
Australian Trade Commission (Austrade)
Australia House
Strand, London WC2B 4LA
Tel: 44 20 7632 0002
Fax: 44 20 7632 0098
Mob: 44 7740 291 353
Email: colin.biggs@austrade.gov.au

For details about Austrade’s Business Club Australia program around the London 2012 Olympic Games to visit Business Club Australia.