More Background Information - Thames Gateway & Olympics

London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games, and the Thames Gateway project brings unparallel opportunities to businesses within the South East of England.  The very nature of the 2012 games will bring to the UK some 202 countries, competing in 301 medal events, in 28 different sports, over 16 days. With the Paralympics to follow an estimated 9 million spectators will visit the games arenas, with around 4 billion, watching worldwide from satellite pictures.

The Thames Gateway is Western Europe's biggest regeneration project with an estimated 160,000 new homes to be build and sustainability being at the very heart of the whole revitalisation of the Thames corridor.

To benefit from the opportunities that will be available, businesses must be prepare to exploit both these unique opportunities.  The message to the business community is there will be hundreds, if not thousands of contracts to be tendered from 2007 right through and beyond 2012.

The Ultimate Challenge

Expectations are high for London, but we need to avoid the previous near and actual disasters of past Olympics e.g. transport Atlanta, buildings Athens.  London must co-ordinate and deliver the skills to achieve a successful event, both financially and memorable.  As an example of the challenge, at peak times up to a quarter of a million visitors will be using the Olympic stations every hour.

But it's not just about the Olympics, the Thames Gateway project will and must incorporate businesses from within the communities where these very works are proposed.  To judge the complexity of this operation visit the government's official Thames Gateway web site for a full list of those involved.  Plus annual spending by the public sector alone accounts for approximately £100 billion a year.  From Local authorities (County and District councils), Central Government Departments, NHS Trust, Emergency Services (Police, Fire and Ambulance), Universities and Schools to Publicly funded bodies (BBC, Crown Agents, British Nuclear fuels, The Post Office etc.).

Our Role

The Thames Gateway Business Club in providing advice, support, guidance, training and essential expertise, bring to business an effective and affordable solution to benefit from these opportunities.  Calling on a combined total of over 40 years experience within the corporate arena.  The Thames Gateway Business Club has substantial in-depth knowledge and understanding of the marketplace in which we operate.

Bringing together professionals from diverse disciplines and encouraging them to work towards providing expertise, services and goods of the highest quality.  Plus a standard and approach that attests itself to successfully achieving our members expectations has enable us to provide a service that delivers both results and business development.

We summarise our approach in one statement "Bringing market sectors and business together".  This statement embodies our team working, creativity and belief in our sustainability and describes our vision, as well as recognising the significant role we play, together with our members and clients, in shaping new environments.

Today, there are more than 620,000 SMEs in London and the South East alone, representing 90% of the region's businesses.  One fifth of those companies already sell to the public sector, with contract values ranging from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

However, many firms fear that these types of opportunities are hard to find and win, or that bidding for such contracts will be too drawn out and complicated.  However, it's worth remembering that small firms make great suppliers to the public sector - they can offer better service and value and tend to be more flexible than larger businesses.

An estimated 700 tender alerts are recorded each week. These opportunities come from: -

• 500 Local authorities in England and Wales
• 303 NHS Trusts
• 42 Police Authorities
• 334 Universities
• 24000 Primary Schools
• 3500 Secondary Schools
• 39 Ambulance Services
• Major projects (local and regional)

Government departments and agencies are keen to open new supply chains and are extremely helpful in supplying information and advice to companies wishing to operate within these markets.

Winning work from the public sector or as sub-contractor can make an enormous difference to your business.  TGBC offers world-class procurement expertise, business development skills and training, networking opportunities and unrivalled presence across the entire Thames Gateway region.