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Deloitte on Olympic impact in the North East

Paul Feechan, Office senior partner at Deloittle Newcastle, talks about the Olympics, and how it will affect the North East.

The arrival of the Olympic Torch in the UK, signals the start of once in a generation opportunity to showcase the best of Britain when we host the 30th Olympic and Paralympic Games. With 205 Olympic teams and 170 Paralympic teams taking part over 46 different sports and a global TV audience, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will attract worldwide recognition. The Games have been hailed as an opportunity to develop sport, increase tourism and increase economic activity throughout the UK. The challenge for the North East is to enjoy a stake in the Games and forge a legacy which lasts well beyond 2012.

With Pre Games Training Camps for teams including Sri Lanka, Columbia and Grenada coming to the region, North East businesses winning contracts through the London 2012 supply chain, and home grown Olympic Games hopefuls such as Matt Wells and Chris Tomlinson and Paralympic Games hopefuls Stephen Miller and John Robertson helping to raise the profile of the region, there are plenty of ways for North East businesses to profit from London 2012.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games are providing a significant boost to ‘Brand Britain’, particularly amongst the growing number of middle class consumers in China and India. A survey of 6,000 consumers by Deloitte, found that 80% of respondents from China and India are more likely to want to visit Britain in light of the publicity surrounding the Games. More than 60% say they would like to buy more British products, whilst 77% want to learn more about the UK as a whole.

However, there are practical issues which all organisations in the region should be planning for, such as potential supply chain and logistical disruption especially if their suppliers are based in London or if you’re based in Newcastle and will be affected by the road closures during the Olympic football competition.

Over 70 per cent of large businesses outside of London expect the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to generate an increase in demand for their goods and services, according to Deloitte’s own analysis as official professional services provider to London 2012.

North East businesses have won over £120 million worth of Games related contracts. The additional tourism, trade and investment opportunities are significant and a key opportunity for the North East’s business community is to use the Games to foster new partnerships between local companies and international businesses.

Newcastle plays host to nine games of the Olympic football tournament, exposing the North East to a global audience. The Beijing games were watched 4.7bn people. The challenge for the North East tourist industry is to use this as a platform for future advertising campaigns, as countries including Germany (2006 World Cup) and Ireland (Ryder Cup) and at city level Barcelona (1992 Olympic Games) and Melbourne (Commonwealth Games 2006) have successfully done following major sporting events.

London 2012 gives us a significant opportunity to stimulate economic growth and regeneration over the longer term. While many of the infrastructure improvements are centred on the South East, businesses need to ensure they are in a position to take advantage of both the near term opportunities and the legacy, with further opportunities presented through future major sporting events such as the 2014 Commonwealth games in Glasgow.

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