Almost 400 businesses registered for a Scottish Enterprise (SE) hosted conference at the Glasgow Science Centre on Tuesday 8 February 2011. They came to learn about the significant businesses opportunities presented by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and how to go about getting a share of these opportunities.

For London 2012 the audience heard that, of a total order book of £8 billion, almost £1.5 billion still needs to be procured and that many of the remaining opportunities will be associated with the goods and services needed to ‘run the show’ rather than the physical build of venues and infrastructure. The Glasgow 2014 opportunities, in total worth around £2 billion, have started to be let and are presently concerned with realisation of venues and physical infrastructure.

Opening remarks from Alison Walker

Alison Walker, Broadcaster and Journalist opened the conference as Master of Ceremonies.

David Smith, Scottish Enterprise

David Smith, Director of Innovation and Enterprise Services at Scottish Enterprise, opened the conference with a welcoming address from SE in which he outlined SE’s role in securing a worthwhile legacy from the Games and stressed the importance, in the context of the current economic environment, of businesses looking outwith traditional market boundaries and the importance in this respect of global sporting games markets, currently estimated to be worth some US$50billion each year for the next ten years. He also emphasised that the London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 Games offered an opportunity for businesses to build their capacity and emerge fitter and more able to compete on this global stage.

John Scott and Archie Graham

John Scott, Chief Executive of Glasgow 2014 Ltd, illustrated the scale of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the kinds of goods and services which will be required to make them happen. He also outlined the strategy which had been adopted to procure the physical facilities needed and, together with Councillor Archie Graham of Glasgow City Council, a summary of progress in realising this infrastructures and range of venues.

John Scott's presentation (PowerPoint, 1.7Mb)

Archie Graham’s presentation (PowerPoint, 634Kb)

Richard Beail, LOCOG

Richard Beail, Nations and Regions Manager for The London Organising Committee Of The Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), gave an overview of the various streams of activity which needed to happen before the opening of the Games. He conveyed that the focus of future contract opportunities was now starting to shift from physical build toward the provision of goods, services and temporary overlay required to stage the Games.

He outlined a series of packages of work, estimated to be worth some £700 million, that would be procured by LOCOG before the Games and which, by their nature, would be spread widely across smaller enterprises throughout the whole of the UK.

Richard Beail's presentation (PowerPoint, 4.2Mb)

Robert Kennedy, The Miller Partnership

Robert Kennedy, Managing Partner with The Miller Partnership, provided a series of valuable insights drawn from his company’s extensive experience of dealing with London 2012 contracts and design of other major sporting venues throughout the UK.

Robert Kennedy’s presentation (PowerPoint, 13.6Mb)

Ian Collins, Lloyds TSB and Bank Of Scotland

The final speaker of the day was Ian Collins, East of Scotland Area Director For Commercial Banking with Lloyds TSB and Bank Of Scotland.  Ian outlined the Bank’s history of involvement with the Olympic Games and how, as a London 2012 Partner, it was progressing with its London 2012 Activation. Ian also informed delegates of the Bank’s extensive range of interventions designed to help businesses.

During his presentation Ian introduced Greg Turner, an athlete participating in Lloyds TSB’s Sporting Heroes programme.

Ian Collins’s presentation (PowerPoint, 9.5Mb)

Question and answer session

Following a question and answer panel, conference compere Alison Walker closed the conference by encouraging delegates to take advantage of the ensuing workshops on a series of subjects designed to help attendees with Games-related and public sector procurement and strengthening their businesses.