WHEN the Olympic flag is transferred from Beijing to London this weekend, it will trigger the starting pistol for companies to bid for contracts for the 2012 Games.

But are some firms already missing out? Ben Rooth reports.

WHEN the Olympic flag is transferred from Beijing to London this weekend, it will trigger the starting pistol for companies to bid for contracts for the 2012 Games.

But are some firms already missing out? Ben Rooth reports.

WHEN the gold medal glory of the British squad at this year's Olympics concludes this weekend, the real `gold rush' can commence.

More than £6bn worth of contracts are up for grabs for the 2012 London games - yet just four per cent of these have so far gone to north west companies.

This equates to 25 companies - 11 of which are SMEs - from this region winning contracts, out of a total of 650 - with a combined worth of £2bn - which have been awarded so far.

By contrast, London and the south east account for 70 per cent of the total contract wins to date.

So, why are more contracts not being awarded to north west businesses?

The official line from the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is that these figures are misleading as they fail to take into account that many companies in the `supply chain' hail from the north west.

For example, Bolton-based Watson's Steel - which is providing the steel for the main stadium - is not factored into the statistics, as it has been employed by construction giant Sir Robert McAlpine, winner of the main contract.

And this could prove to be the tip of the iceberg, according to ODA chairman John Armitt.

Mr Armitt said: "When that Olympic flag is passed to London this weekend, it should act as the trigger for north west companies to bid for the contracts on offer.

"There's still plenty of time to act and there's still plenty of opportunity.

"We want to work with the best of businesses in the north west - large and small - to deliver the venues and infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and create a lasting legacy. It is a challenging project and we are on track.

"Creating a level playing field to ensure we get the best of business is an important part of this, and companies in the region are showing an en- couraging appetite to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Companies are being encouraged to register their interest at an online `dating agency' - called CompeteFor.com - which matches businesses with London 2012-related opportunities.

To date, 1,284 companies from this region have registered their interest in bidding for contracts, of which about 85 per cent are SMEs.

Of these, 185 companies are from the construction sector, 147 are from manufacturing, 61 are IT companies, 141 are media and creative companies, and a further 261 are from the financial and professional services sector.

But, according to the Matt Goodman, policy representative from the Knutsford-based Forum of Private Business, the on-line bidding process is not always running smoothly.

Matt said: "We have had representations from some of our members who say that the online method of bidding is unnecessarily intrusive and difficult to follow.

"In order to be eligible to tender for work, companies need to report on gender and racial equality and offer trade union membership to employees.

"Most SMEs have fewer than 10 staff, and the process of acquiring all the necessary information is, frankly, putting them off.

"There's immense potential for north west companies to capitalise on the 2012 Olympics, but the whole process needs to be streamlined."

The 1,000th bidder on the CompeteFor.com website was Denton-based architects and surveyors Jennings Design Associates.

Owner Bill Jennings said: "I think that for most companies the chance to play a role in the 2012 Olympics is all about the prestige of being linked to the event.

"We hope to play a role in the design for one of the buildings linked to the main stadium, and if we were successful we would look at the opportunity of opening another office down in London and expanding our team.

"The contract win would obviously be a terrific help at this moment in time, as the credit crunch takes effect."

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