East London's small firms not fully benefiting from Olympics

Date: 24th December 2008

Small firms based in east London are not benefitting fully from the 2012 Olympic Games, it has been suggested.

According to a study conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, some small-sized businesses are faced with various problems that are preventing them from securing contracts, the Newham Recorder reports.

Small firms, including partnerships and sole traders, are having trouble because they cannot find enough time to dedicate to procurement.

Additionally, a number of the contracts are not directly being offered by the Olympic Development Agency (ODA), and as such are not bound by diversity rules which would make them more accessible to little companies.

The report did find, however, that steps have been taken by the ODA to make sure that contracts are being won by small, local businesses, including the setting up of the CompeteFor website, noted the newspaper.

Approximately 29,000 small firms with less than 50 members of staff have now signed up with the site, the ODA said.

Earlier this week, the Federation des Experts Comptables Europeens published a series of policy statements which outlined what it believes should be done to help lessen the impact of the financial crisis on small companies.