Recently the world has marvelled at spectacular Olympic events in Beijing - a far cry from a small sporting festival that takes place at Much Wenlock in Shropshire, but it was these village games that were the inspiration for the modern Olympics.  We are a nation proud of our sporting prowess - the contemporary forms of football, rugby, cricket, lawn tennis, hockey, boxing, track and field, badminton and golf all originated in the UK.

 

The spiritual home of these sports remain in renowned venues such as Wembley, Twickenham, Lords, Wimbledon, and St. Andrews.  Although other sports such as racing, polo, sailing and rowing might have originated elsewhere, the events at Royal Ascot, Smith’s Lawn, Cowes and Henley have acquired global significance.  

 

Now, in the light of our London 2012 Olympic bid win (visit competefor.com to bid for London 2012 contracts), UK companies – even those not obviously associated with sport – are ideally placed to become involved in other major international sporting opportunities. There is massive infrastructure involved in every great international sporting event: the arenas, accommodation and transport facilities together with all the financial and legal planning such projects entail, not to mention event planning, design, construction and management.

 

Think your business can’t compete? Even the most daunting sports event becomes more manageable when broken down into component parts. This is precisely what UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the government organisation that helps business to trade overseashas done. By establishing a Sports and Leisure Infrastructure Projects Team, UKTI are able to maintain a comprehensive online database of UK companies that can contribute to successful global sporting projects. UKTI services enable participation at selected trade fairs, outward missions and provide bespoke market intelligence; UK companies can then crack foreign markets and get to grips with overseas regulations and business practice. Exporting is good for productivity and company morale – and can also have a beneficial effect on the bottom line.

 

But it’s not just in sporting event delivery where UK companies can punch beyond their weight. There is a growing demand for help in security services, mobile communications and broadcasting, recruitment, training, media management, ticketing, temporary venues and ceremonials, as well as the obvious construction opportunities.

 

UK companies have all these capabilities and skills, and excellent international reputations.

 

Which is why the Ukrainian football club FC Shakhtar called on UK know-how when building a new 50,000 seat stadium in Donetsk. It will be used as one of the UEFA European Football Championshipvenues when Poland and Ukraine jointly host the competition in 2012. Sporting and other infrastructure opportunities existing in Poland will be explored at UKTI South East’s ‘Doing business in Poland and Central Europe’ seminar in November 2008 which will introduce companies to the business opportunities in Polandand will provide a general overview of Central Europe. In addition, UKTI South East will be holding a sports infrastructure event in October/November 2008, more details will be posted on www.uktisoutheast.com soon.

 

UK companies that have already found success are working on such innovative and iconic projects as the Budapest’s National Indoor Arena, Shenzhen’s Olympic New Town Stadium or the Johannesburg Athletics Stadium - and other opportunities arise constantly, all over the world, ready for UK companies to seize.

 

The FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa has opportunities for equipment supply; the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 needs companies with security, event and venue and marketing identification, and the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 has key opportunities in security consultancy, broadcasting advice, VIP hospitality and management. 

 

With all eyes on London for 2012, there has seldom been a better time for UK companies to show their track records to the rest of the world. The starting pistol is about to go off - make sure your business is poised at the start line.