(2 Votes)

Employers have won contracts worth more than £5 billion from the London Olympics, new figures have revealed.

More than half the 1,036 firms benefitting from the 2012 games are in London.

The contracts issued by the Olympic Delivery Authority could also benefit thousands of smaller businesses in the supply chain.

Delivering the London 2012 Games will require a huge range of goods, works and services from an enormous variety of firms, from construction, engineering and manufacturing to creative, merchandising and retail.

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said: “The challenge of staging a Games requires the support and expertise of hundreds of thousands of people – including UK businesses both large and small.

“As we prepare to give the athletes the best possible chance of performing at their best come Games-time, we are also offering UK plc a unique opportunity to be part of our journey and create a lasting legacy of skilled businesses fit and ready to compete on the global stage.”

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: “These suppliers are in turn creating thousands more supply chain contracts providing companies with work in a time of economic uncertainty and boosting the economy across the UK at a time when it is needed the most.”

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