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North East firms should start planning now for London Olympics- Deloitte

A Business advisory firm has warned firms in the North East to start planning on ways to maximise opportunities and minimise disruption that the Olympic and Paralympic Games will bring.

Research from Deloitte, shows that throughout the UK over half of businesses (60 per cent) said that they expected no impact on their ‘business as usual’ during the Games, with only 16 per cent expecting a high level of impact.

To date, Sri Lanka and Columbia have signed up to hold their pre Games training camps in the North East as Newcastle city plays host to a number of Olympic football matches, a torch relay, a network of live sites, an ambitious cultural Olympiad and innumerable events that will take place between now and the Games.

Paul Williamson, senior partner at Deloitte. Said: “Businesses in the North East need to think about the wider picture and of the impact that an Olympic-scale event could have on logistics.

“With the addition of regional Olmypic-related activities, all of which will require goods and services, the strain on the transport infrastructure will be great.”

The firm says businesses should consider some of the most obvious pressure points around the Games including the Transport issues with road closures and access restrictions likely which will have significant impact on the ability for deliveries around the country.

He added: “The Olympic and Paralympic Games will last for over six weeks and the build up to them considerably longer. Businesses need to recognise that their competitors will be, and in some cases already are, planning for an upturn in business.

“We believe that with insight and planning, businesses in the region can maximise the opportunities to benefit commercially from the London 2012 Games, both now and in the longer term.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .