Olympics story by Carl Anders, Sun, 01 Jan 2006 17:08:00 GMT


LONDON - Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister has called on businesses and industries to get ready in order to reap the full benefits of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

"The Games are a unique opportunity for business and workers to benefit in a host of different ways," Ms Jowell said while announcing the details of a summit to be held on January 24.

"There are great opportunities here to win lucrative and rewarding contracts -everything from providing food and drink for spectators to building the venues themselves. All the UK can, and must, benefit." The business summit will be held in London and will host around 300 senior representatives of several businesses, trade unions and trade associations.

"I want companies to be champing at the bit for the chance to share in the 2012 experience. But they need to understand how they can get involved and that's where this summit comes in," Ms Jowell stressed. "We will provide hard facts on the potential benefits: how contracts can be won, what skills are needed and what the sponsorship opportunities are."

Sir Digby Jones, the CBI director-general; Brendan Barber, the TUC general Secretary, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone and the David Higgins, the chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA are also scheduled to speak at the summit.

The deputy chairman of the London organizing committee (LOCOG) Sir Keith Mills is also going to deliver a keynote address at the summit. Ms Jowell said that there were just six and a half years to go for the Games and she wanted British firms to gear up to face the challenges as well as reap the benefits.

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