Olympics boost for region
MORE than 200 companies from across the region have won contracts connected to the London 2012 Olympics, boosting Yorkshire’s economy by millions of pounds, according to the regional committee for the event.
However, with £450m worth of contracts still to bid for, regional businesses are being urged not to miss out on work associated with the Games.
One of the latest Yorkshire companies to benefit from the Olympics coming to London is Premier Interlink (Waco UK), based in Brandesburton, East Yorkshire.
The company, a manufacturer of steel framed buildings, has won contracts to provide the office and welfare facilities for a construction firm involved in the building of the 6,000 seat London 2012 Velodrome Stadium.
Executives from four Yorkshire businesses that have benefited from Olympic contracts visited the Olympic Park to mark the approach to the ‘Year to Go’ landmark on July 27.
They were: David Preston, managing director of Prestons of Potto, in Northallerton; Mark Blackburn, special projects director, at Pitchmastic PMB, Sheffield; Graham Holden, chief executive of Marshalls Paving, Huddersfield; and Andy Fraser, managing director of County Turf in Scunthorpe (pictured above).
The visit was hosted by Gary Verity, chief executive of tourism body Welcome to Yorkshire and chair of Yorkshire Gold, which works to ensure the region benefits from the Games, and Jonathan Edwards, deputy chairman of the Nations and Regions Group of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).
And companies that are benefiting from the Games, including Premier Interlink (Waco UK) will be presenting at an event hosted by the Yorkshire Business Club event in Leeds on July 22, at which delegates will have the opportunity to hear first hand about their experience of successfully competing for contracts.
Mr Verity said “With a year to go, we know Team Yorkshire is already making a major impact down at the Park; over 200 firms on our patch have won business contracts and there’s still £450m more still to bid for so today I’m encouraging people across Yorkshire that there’s still plenty of opportunity to grab a slice of the action.
“London 2012 will be about more than the Olympic Park; it’s happening right on our doorstep in Yorkshire.
Prestons transported tens of thousands of tonnes of Yorkshire steel and concrete to the Olympic Stadium; County Turf (Scunthorpe) grew all of the stadium’s turf; Pitchmastic PMB has waterproofed the Aquatics centre and highways at the Olympic Park; and Marshalls has supplied much of the stone paving around the Park site.
It is also expected that with seven international squads basing themselves in Yorkshire to train in the run up to 2012, and discussions underway with other Olympic and Paralympic teams from North and South America, Eastern Europe and Africa, and five Great Britain squads being based in the region, at least a further £3m will be generated for Yorkshire’s economy.
