Scots firms picked up just £33m of Olympics work from £7bn awarded

By DAVID MADDOX
Published on 18/07/2012 14:23

A NEW controversy over the 2012 Olympic contracts has broken out after it was revealed that Scottish firms had picked up just £33 million of work from the £7 billion awarded.

• Scottish companies won just £33m of Olympics contracts

• Firms in London awarded £3.8bn of work - more than half of total

• SNP questions ‘mammoth imbalance’ while Labour criticises their ‘negativity’

According to a written answer 30 Scottish businesses were awarded contracts totalling £33 million which fell far short of most of the English regions with the 145 companies from the East of England picking up £915 million of contracts and 64 firms getting £464 million in the West Midlands.

The south east of England picked up more than £1 billion of work with 258 companies benefiting.

However, the lion’s share of work has gone to firms in London where 799 companies were awarded £3.8 billion of contracts, more than half the value of business available.

While Scotland fell far below many English regions it was not the worst with Welsh companies only winning £5 million of contracts.

The SNP has previously raised concerns that the way the Olympics have been organised has benefited the south of England disproportionately.

However, critics of the Scottish Government have complained that they have failed to effectively promote Olympic opportunities to companies in Scotland.

SNP business spokesman Mike Weir MP said: “The Olympics were supposed to bring opportunities for businesses all over the country, but it seems Scottish and Welsh firms have been an afterthought when lucrative contracts were awarded. The mammoth imbalance in where these contracts have gone raise real questions on whether they were marketed fairly across the UK to deliver benefits for all.”

But Labour’s Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP Tom Greatrex, who is volunteering as an Olympics Games Maker at the football tournament at Hampden Park, said: “Seven years of almost constant negativity from the SNP in Edinburgh is bound to have had an impact on how well businesses in Scotland are making the most of the opportunities afforded by the Olympics.

“Even in recent weeks, from manufactured rows about flying the Saltire at Hampden to petty acts like removing Union Flags to mark the games from the Holyrood canteen, SNP politicians have been openly scornful of the Olympics to suit their separatist agenda. Even though the devolved government’s agencies have tried to be professional, the hostility from their political masters has not gone unnoticed.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence said that contingency plans are in place to provide extra troops at the Olympics if necessary, but added that no request has yet been received.

Press reports suggested that a formal request could come from the Government as early as tomorrow if G4S fail to deliver enough guards. The MoD would not confirm suggestions that 2,000 troops could be involved.

G4S faces continued pressure today over the Olympics security debacle, as share prices continued to fall.

Yesterday bosses at the private security firm insisted they would be claiming tens of millions of pounds in management fees despite admitting being 100 per cent responsible for a “humiliating shambles”.