Business to trade on Olympic gold

Jeff Meyer looks at the opportunities for businesses following London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

At first, we backed the bid because London mayor Ken Livingstone told us to. Disagree with his bravado, his policies or his penchant for tall buildings, sure, but no one can say Ken doesn't love London.

Lining up against stalwarts like Paris, New York and Madrid, though, the quest to secure the Olympic 2012 Bid seemed a bit quixotic. London faced a giant windmill with its ragged transport system, as constant delays and overcrowding signalled failure when compared to the efficient networks across the Channel.

Analysts say great swaths of London's East End are a shambles, and with the Millennium Dome debacle still fresh on taxpayers' minds, there was little wiggle room with which to sell the benefits of a grand Olympic Park.

But they did. Praised for their impeccable planning, Sebastian Coe's team gained momentum every step of the way.

Their plan for transport reforms, future use of the Olympic Park and, most of all, the regeneration of one of the UK's most depressed areas won the hearts of Londoners and eventually the votes of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Lea Valley district of Stratford in the East End will get its extreme makeover. With near-universal backing of UK business groups, areas from Stratford down to the Thames are earmarked for developments, ridding the area of its dilapidated image and bringing business back into the fold.

Works got underway just 48 hours after IOC president Jacques Rogge mumbled 'London.' Some 200 firms have already submitted contracts to the London Development Agency (LDA), a spokesman confirmed.

A motley mix of designers, construction firms, electricians, programme managers, remediation experts and demolition crews are chomping at the bit for a slice of the Olympic Park Zone and River Zone development projects.

The LDA will first give out contracts for designing the Olympic Park and Velopark, followed by contracts to construction companies as plans progress.

"We're shortlisting for a number of the early ones," the spokesperson said. "But the development will impact a whole raft of businesses.

"We've planned a huge amount of investment in infrastructure, such as transport, and all businesses are interested in that. The general perception of an area is important, too, so it affects businesses more widely than just in the development zones."

What happens still needs to coordinated with development elsewhere, but the LDA has a much wider remit beyond the East End, the spokesperson stressed. It is responsible for the economic development of all of London and is aiming to 'capitalise to the greatest extent possible' on the 2012 Games to bring some necessary improvements to the Capital.

The mayor's agency for business owns 'a huge amount' of land across the Capital, the spokesperson said, and he is planning to use it to develop new business parks. Work is already underway on a 'high-quality' business park in Silvertown on the Royal Docks near the Lower Lea Valley, one of the Olympic development sites.

The LDA is also looking at developing industrial estates, an environmental industrial park in Dagenham and has eyes on several sites south of the Thames, near the Olympic site.

"This is going to require a huge amount of dedicated effort, but we look at it as the development of London as a whole," the LDA spokesperson said. "We hope to open doors and unlock potential."

But even beyond London, business is getting a much-needed shot of adrenaline from the Games. In regions like the Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber, contractors are drafting plans for Olympic training facilities, venues and events to support British athletes and ensure that the economic benefits of the 2012 Games are spread throughout the UK.

"Industries across the country will reap the benefits of the capital's successful bid. Already contractors for power generation and essential infrastructure are being sought, and companies in the east Midlands need to be ready to respond right now," said Jeff Moore, chief executive of the East Midlands Development Agency.

Based on Australian figures from its 2000 Olympic Games, officials in Yorkshire estimate the region could reap up to 600 million in economic growth from the 2012 event.

"The benefits to Yorkshire and Humber will be far-reaching and long lasting - now we must all work together to ensure some of the major events surrounding the Games are brought to our region, as well as offering teams taking part some of the country's best training facilities," said Peter Box, chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly.

What duly impressed, and perhaps secured, the Capital's bid, however, was the team's plan for beyond 2012.

The Olympic sites in East London are within one of the most deprived areas of Europe, said Elizabeth Crawshaw, spokesperson for London 2012. But by the time the Olympic torch is extinguished, the area, on paper, at least, looks to thrive.

"Many of the Olympic venues will be temporary and relocated around UK," Crawshaw said. "The Olympic Park will become a place to live, work and play."

Offices and retail shops will vie for space, and the government will offer skills training to ready local residents for the thousands of resulting jobs, some 7,000 of which will be in construction alone, Crawshaw said.

Education and skills secretary Ruth Kelly spelled out the plans last week, pledging that, "By 2012, two-thirds of new and existing jobs will need Level 3 qualifications [equivalent of 2 A-levels]. We must focus on these priority skills needs.

"Currently fewer than 60% of electricians and plumbers have the crucial technical qualifications needed, and this figure is under 50% for construction. Lack of technicians, advanced craft, skilled trade and associate professional skilled people must not hold us back."