The Olympics Boost?

A report, for the UK Trade and Investment department (UKTI), said that last year's Olympics resulted in:

• £2.5bn "additional inward investment", 58% of which was outside London
• £5.9bn additional sales following Olympic-related promotions by the Foreign Office and UKTI
• £1.5bn high value overseas contracts - such as helping to design venues in other host-nations

A grand total of £9.9BN.

The figures are of course unprovable, as there is no way of knowing what would have happened without the Olympics.

Additionally, the cost of the Olympics was around £12BN.

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The Olympics Legacy

West Ham United have until March 2013 to seal a deal for the Olympic Stadium after being selected as “first-ranked” bidder.

As to whether a deal is agreed remains to be seen, as some doubt West Ham's willingness to stump up a "fair price" for the stadium.

Boris Johnson displayed some public doubts, and applied some pressure yesterday. The Telegraph reports that that he said that he will pursue a “Plan B”, that does not involve football, if a deal cannot be struck.

It is ironic, is it not, that the taxpayer having spent millions on a state of the art athletics track the legacy will most likely be a football stadium that will earn the football club (not the taxpayer) millions?

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The True Spirit of The British Olympics

Stuff the sponsorship, the zil lanes and the self centered lust for gold!

Rachel Onosanwo embodies the true spirit of what the British Olympics should be about.

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Will The Owners of The Empty Olympics Seat Please Stand Up

Atos, BA, Coca Cola, McDonalds, EDF and Thomas Cook have all denied that they own the empty Olympics seats.

That being the case, who does own these seats, and why have the tickets not been given to someone else who actually wants to see the Games?


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Three Arrested at Newcastle Olympic Venue

Three people due to work as staff at an Olympic venue in Newcastle have been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences.

Source Sky News.


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Less Than Half Team GB To Attend Olympics Opening

The Telegraph reports that Team GB will only field 260 out of 541 British athletes during tomorrow's opening ceremony march.

Why are less than half of Team GB appearing?

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Avoid Stratford

There will be an opening ceremony rehearsal this evening. As such, Stratford will be extremely busy.

Avoid the area if possible.

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Locog Bans Box Hill News

Locog will not allow a village magazine to be sold on Box Hill during this month's cycle races, because the publication is not an official London 2012 sponsor.

The Box Hill News, a 40p news magazine run by volunteers, wanted to publish a special Olympics-themed edition to be sold on the weekend of the cycling races, July 28 and 29.

Locog insist only event sponsors can trade along the route.

Corporate greed at its worst!

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Olympic Insurrection

Kudos to this shop in Surbiton for sticking two fingers up to the Olympic brand police and joining the Olympic Insurrection.

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Border Agency To Stage Olympics Strike

PCS have now given details of when the Home Office strike, announced yesterday, will occur.

Unsurprisingly it is timed to hit the Olympics.

Thousands of Home Office workers (including Border Agency staff) will stage a 24-hour strike on 26th July, the day before the Olympic Games open.

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Coke To Pay Tax

Coca-Cola have followed McDonald's, GE and Visa and waived the Olympic tax exemption:

"Coca‑Cola has never intended to, and will not be making, any corporate or income tax exemption claim with respect to any activity concerning our involvement with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

More than 90% of the Coca‑Cola employees working at the Olympic and Paralympic Games are UK nationals. Those from abroad will be paid by their respective home countries.

As one of the longest, continuous sponsors of the Olympic Movement, we are proud that we are able to use our sponsorship to enable millions of people to experience the Games and believe we have a valid role to play. As well as sharing expertise, our financial support will help to stage London 2012. We have also built on our experience as an Olympic and Paralympic sponsor to help LOCOG deliver the most sustainable Games possible."

Apparently they always intended to pay tax, the statement is one merely of clarification.

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Border Agency Staff To Strike

Now that the bus drivers have accepted their Olympic bribe, step forward Border Agency staff and others who also want a share of the Olympic pie.

Thousands of staff at the Home Office have voted to go on strike. Dates have not been set, however there is the prospect of strikes affecting the London 2012 Olympic Games, because Border Agency staff are involved.

The question is, if Border Agency staff do go on strike, will the hapless passengers arriving at Heathrow notice any difference?

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The G4S Debacle - The Next Steps

Unsurprisingly G4S, the security firm that failed the nation when the eyes of the world were watching, continues to remain in the headlines. The media and other interested parties are analysing its business and operations with a fine tooth comb, something maybe the government and Locog should have done before signing the Olympics contract?

The Telegraph reports that confidential Home Office documents show that G4S has had its fee for managing civilian security staff for the Games rise from £7.3M to £60M.

The fee the company takes for running its Olympic office has risen more than 10 times faster than its spending on recruitment.

"Almost £34 million of the increase is for the G4S “programme management office” overseeing the security operation. By contrast, the firm’s recruitment spending has increased by only £2.8 million.

The company told ITV Tonight that the contract was subject to “extensive negotiation to ensure value for money” and that there were caps on any profit made. G4S said it had been “absolutely transparent” with Locog about its finances."

Whilst G4S may or may not be "absolutely transparent with Locog", as I noted yesterday, Locog and the government are not absolutely transparent with the taxpayer about this and other aspects of the Olympics.

As an experienced FCA and fraud investigator I recommend that if G4s, the government and Locog want to put taxpayers' minds at rest over the integrity of the contracts awarded for the Games, then a full independent audit be conducted of the tendering process, the contract and G4S operations pertaining to their work for the Games.

Only then will the fears and worries of the taxpayers be assuaged.

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G4S Win Gold Medal For Spectacular Olympic Incompetence

In April I wrote the following about G4S (the company that is meant to provide security for the Olympics Park):

"The cost of providing security for the games has rocketed skywards, eg elements of the main contract with private security provider G4S have increased by up to seven times."

With only a fortnight to go until the Olympics and G4S and the costs of providing security for the Olympics have yet again hit the headlines, in a spectacular manner.

G4S have failed to deliver on their contract to provide sufficient trained security staff for the Olympics Park, as such the government is having to cover the shortfall with 3,500 troops (many of whom are returning home on leave having just finished a tour of duty in Afghanistan). In a remarkable display of incompetence, G4S only informed the Government that it was struggling to fulfill its brief only in the last fortnight.

Although G4S is rumoured (according to Channel 4 News last night) to be being fined around £50K per day for its incredible incompetence, this is but a drop in the ocean when compared to the £535M that they are making from the Olympics contract.

Needless to say, were the Olympics being run in transparent and open manner the taxpayers (who are paying for this corporate marketing fest) would have the right to look at the contract that G4S has signed for providing security for the Games. Unfortunately the Olympics are not being run in an open and transparent manner, and the contract is not available for public scrutiny.

Why are the taxpayers, who are funding the Games, not allowed to satisfy themselves that their money has been wisely spent and that contracts signed in their names have been negotiated in their best interests?

As an FCA and experienced fraud investigator I would never advise people to put money into a project/business without them at the very least seeing the contract and reviewing it thoroughly, taking advice from independent finance/legal professionals.

The government would argue that they acted in the interest of taxpayers when reviewing and negotiating the contract with G4S. However, as can be seen from this omnishambles of incompetence, it is clear that the government was not up to the job of looking after taxpayers' interests.

Needless to say the fact that troops are being brought in to cover G4S's failure means that the costs of the Olympics will rise. When will the government tell us by how much?

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Residents of Fred Wigg Abandon Legal Challenge To Olympic Missiles

Residents of the Fred Wigg Tower in Leytonstone (a 17-storey tower block near the Olympic Park) lost their right to challenge the decision by the army to deploy missiles on top of their building yesterday.

The Fred Wigg residents applied for permission to seek judicial review of the government's decision to deploy the missiles, saying it was a "disproportionate interference" with their human rights, and they were not consulted properly over the siting of the ground-based air defence system.

They argued that those who wanted to move out should at least be relocated in hotels by the MoD or a gantry should be erected for the missiles away from the tower block.

However, Justice Haddon-Cave said on Tuesday:

"In my judgment, the MoD's voluntary engagement with the community and residents in this matter were immaculate."

The residents have today abandoned their challenge to the decision.


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Got Milk?

It seems that there may be disruption to the country's milk supplies during the forthcoming Olympics.

The Telegraph reports that three major dairy processors have announced further reductions to the amount they pay farmers for milk.

This has prompted a reaction from the farmers.

David Handley, of the campaign group Farmers for Action, is quoted:

“If we don’t get reinstatement [reversing price cuts], we are looking at disruption of milk supplies. 

That could come in many forms.

Part of our action is likely to disrupt that [the Olympics] and that is unfortunate, but at the end of the day we are in desperation street.”

Fortunately I drink vodka!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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London Turned Into Armed Encampment

Plans to deploy surface to air missile batteries on residential rooftops in London have been given the go ahead. 

AFP reports that surface-to-air missile defence systems will be deployed at six sites in London during the Olympics as a "powerful deterrent" (as per the MOD) against attack.

The sites include two housing complexes, the Lexington Building in Tower Hamlets and the Fred Wigg Tower in Waltham Forest, together with Blackheath Common and Oxleas Wood, both in south east London, plus William Girling Reservoir in the Lea Valley Reservoir Chain in Enfield and Barn Hill at Netherhouse Farm in Epping Forest.

The deployment comes in the face of protests from residents at two locations where missiles are being deployed on top of blocks of flats.

One residents' group is taking legal action to try and stop the missile deployment. Solicitors instructed by the residents' association at the Fred Wigg Tower said that their challenge will reach the High Court on July 9.

Is hosting the Olympics really worth all of this? 


Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Muse - Survival The Official Song Of The London 2012 Olympic Games

The official song (dirge) of the Olympics.

Feel free to vent your views/opinions abpout it.

To me it sounds rather like a mish mash of ELO meets James Bond theme.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Olympics Greedfest Bus Strike

Warming up for the Olympics greedfest, thousands of London bus workers have taken a leaf out of the tube workers' book and have gone on strike today.

For why?

They want a £500 bonus for working during the Olympics.

Transport for London (TfL) said more than a third of bus routes were running but "many routes were disrupted".

It's going to be a long and tedious summer in the capital!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Police Investigate Large Scale Olympic Ticket Touting

The Telegraph reports that the police have compiled a new “watch list” of nearly 1000 Olympic ticket touts, many of whom are linked to serious organised crime, and 30 sites outside Britain suspected of being involved in illegally selling tickets for the forthcoming Olympics.

Almost 200 people have been arrested for a range of offences, with warnings of further raids over the coming weeks as interest in the Olympic Games intensifies.

I assume the the police will also be investigating those individuals and organisations involved in the ticket touting bonanza that I wrote about just two days ago?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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