John Armitt, the Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), is visiting the East Midlands today and tomorrow, to take a look at some of the businesses that have won contracts to work on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The ODA is the public body responsible for developing and building the new venues and infrastructure for the Games and their use after 2012.

Over 100 East Midlands businesses have already won contracts for the Games, and John Armitt will be seeing the work of four of these businesses during his visit.

Bespoke precast concrete specialist, Evans Concrete, near Alfreton in Derbyshire, has won a number of large contracts for the Olympic Park, amounting to several million pounds. They are currently manufacturing 600 parapets weighing up to 7 tonnes each, and 400 deck planks for bridges, each weighing 10 tonnes. The bridges will provide access to the Olympic Stadium and will remain in place after the 2012 Games.

The company is also working on the Aquatics Centre, as well as manufacturing stair treads at the main entrances of stations along the Docklands Light Railway which will be serving the Olympic Park site.  

One of the major British success stories at the last two Olympic Games was the performance of the cycling team, and a Huthwaite based company is playing a key role in the construction of the Velodrome.

Wood Newton specialises in providing high quality external facades. The company has secured the prestigious contract to manufacture and install the external timber façade and composite timber roof of the distinctive double-curved structure of the velodrome, which has been designed to reflect the geometry of the cycling track.

Wood Newton is supplying and fixing tens of thousands of square metres of western red cedar and birch faced composite timber panels, along with other fixtures and fittings such as roof lights, in a contract which is worth several millions of pounds to the north Nottinghamshire business.

On the second day of his visit, Mr. Armitt will be travelling to Leicestershire to the Lavendon Group in Lutterworth, which provides powered access equipment to enable work to be undertaken safely at height. The Lavendon Group has over 250 powered access platforms working on the Olympic Park site, which are supplied to numerous businesses for the development of the various construction projects currently underway.

Whilst in Leicestershire, Mr. Armitt will also visit Fosse Liquitrol in Whetstone. The company has been supplying a range of oil and chemical spill prevention and clean up products and equipment. Fosse Liquitrol has provided a variety of products to the Olympic Park through its network of distributors, such as spill pallets, spill kits and absorbent pads, and also delivers on-site training and technical support to a number of contractors working on the site. 

Mr Armitt's visit concludes with a presentation at Leicester Tigers' ground, where he will talk to businesses from across the East Midlands about the opportunities that are available for them to supply products and services to the 2012 Games. 

Speaking about his visit, John Armitt said: "Businesses from the East Midlands have already made the most of the golden opportunities that are available to companies across the UK. I have met a range of East Midlands companies of different sizes from various industries, which are all benefitting from supplying products and services for the project.

"While the bulk of the ODA's direct contracts have now been awarded, there are still opportunities through the UK-wide supply chain and with the London Organising Committee. Companies should sign up to CompeteFor, the business website, to be part of a unique opportunity to showcase UK plc to the world."

Jeff Moore, Chief Executive of emda, added: "There are still plenty of contracts relating to the Games, that businesses in the East Midlands can get involved with. Since emda helped to set up CompeteFor, over 3,000 East Midlands businesses have published their profiles on the website and are bidding to win contracts. 

"The range of contracts available is incredibly diverse, and I would urge all businesses in the East Midlands to just take a look at the CompeteFor website to see whether there are opportunities that they can bid for."