Recovery is a question of sport

Times are tough for commercial property developers right across the country. Businesses in the East Midlands are finding a way forward, however, through key UK sport projects

The current economic climate is presenting tough times for developers right across the UK. With few prospects are presenting themselves for large scale developments, it is not only construction firms but their suppliers as well that are suffering.

While this situation is no different for the East Midlands, some companies are turning to sport to help them through the recession – not in terms of picking up racquets or rugby balls, but by looking at the potential that national sporting events can offer in generating business.

The most prominent of these is of course the 2012 Olympics in London. Now less than three years to the event, organisers are keen to make sure projects get under way, run to schedule and are finished on time to avoid the last minute rush of previous games such as those in Athens in 2000. This, on top of the Government commitments to secure 98 percent of Olympic contracts from within the UK has seen several East Midlands firms benefit.

So far, thirty-four companies and organisations from the East Midlands have won contracts from the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), and more have won work supplying the ODA's contractors through the supply chain.

The scale of involvement varies across contracts. Yet some companies have been working directly with the ODA as part of larger projects for the games. Hinckley-based Morrisons Construction won a large contract which included work on the clean-up and demolition of the old buildings on the Olympic Park site before construction could begin on the new venues.

Other local companies have been supplying the ODA's contractors through the supply chain, with many of them focusing on the stadium itself. A&L Paving, a Northampton-based business, won a contract to supply kerbs and paving for the highways and bridges on the Olympic Park. Industrial Fire Protection from Leicester have a supply and installation contract for insulation on the Olympic Stadium while Evans Concrete, based in Somercotes, won an infrastructure contract to supply precast concrete parapets and temporary deck planks to more than 10 new bridges being built on the Olympic Park.

"Companies from the East Midlands are already winning gold from London 2012,” said ODA Chairman John Armitt. “Businesses of all sizes and from every sector are working together to deliver the largest project this country has seen for generations and are reaping the benefits of millions of pounds of work.”

Contract winners from the East Midlands have benefitted from the CompeteFor, a combined scheme from the , is allow UK businesses to place their bids for major contracts related to the Olympics. The scheme has been seen as particularly worthwhile due to the fact that it incorporates the needs of both public and private sector organisations connected to the games. The result will hopefully be that the widest possible involvement of companies from across the UK, with possible new contractor arrangements being formed by developers working together.

"The Games in London in 2012 offer social, sporting and economic opportunities across the whole of the UK. Spreading the economic benefits of the Games is a key area of our work,” Charles Allen, Chairman Nations and Regions Group, said. “UK businesses being better able to compete for domestic and international business opportunities will be a valuable legacy."

The ODA has been working with East Midlands Development Agency to promote the London 2012 Business Network, including opportunities that are available to companies across the UK and to publicise CompeteFor, the unique 'dating agency', which aims to match them with London 2012 related opportunities. In April 2009, around 30 business leaders and representatives from the East Midlands visited the Olympic Park and met with ODA contractors to find out about supply chain opportunities.

While the Olympics games provide the greatest potential in terms of construction for the area, plans are already afoot for the next big sporting event to come to our shores. The bidding process is already underway to host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cup finals with England putting in bids to host either event. The passion for the game, along with the pre-existence of much of the infrastructure required to host the games, make England a strong contender to win the bid. And there have even been some strong hints from members of the FA, such as executive committee member Franz Beckenbauer, that England would be a preferred host for the event.

With such good prospects, the likes of Leicester and Derby - both with excellent existing stadiums - have submitted their bids to potentially hold games as part of the event, which would likely lead to significant development and regeneration in both cities.

Yet it is Nottingham who have stolen the media attention in the bidding process, positioning itself as top potenial host city by announcing a new development connected to the bid. Though the city already has two existing stadiums (those of Notts County and Nottingham Forrest) Nottingham city council has, as part its bidding process, announced the development of a new stadium.

The 45,000 person capacity venue, as outlined by architects Benoy, could serve as a regional stadium for a range of sporting events with football chief among them.

Though the exact location of the stadium has proven an issue of some contention between city and county councils, the strong likelihood that the stadium would get constructed in the case of a successful bid would be yet more good news to local developers and contractors, who would see the benefits of such a local project.

A successful World Cup bid for any of the East Midlands’ cities will see significant developments in infrastructure that would have a lasting benefit on the economies of those cities. Improved transport connections, for example, could well lead to a rise in businesses escaping more pricey London properties in favour of more reasonable but no less prominent locations in the East Midlands.

Of course, such bonuses are speculative – very much a case of ‘if’ not when. Yet if there is any chance of such developments being made in the region, it is best for companies to be ready for them and to pitch for them as and when they arise. Based on the take-up of contracts seen so far for the Olympics, the East Midlands businesses should be in prime place to win development contracts in their own back garden. So, I suppose cries of ‘Come on England‘ wouldn’t be completely out of place.

To find out about the East Midlands visit: www.emda.org.uk. For further details of the Olympic CompeteFor scheme visit: www.competefor.com