Beste redactie,
BT heeft vandaag de resultaten bekendgemaakt van een onderzoek onder 1200 kleine-, middel- en grote bedrijven en publieke organisaties in het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Uit het onderzoek blijkt dat het Britse zakenleven zeer positief staat tegenover de Olympische Spelen en denkt dat zij er hun voordeel mee kunnen doen, dit ondanks de slechte economische vooruitzichten. Het merendeel van de respondenten (68%) verwacht een piek in de vraag rondom de Olympische Spelen en bijna de helft (45%) verwacht een stijging van de verkoop.
Echter blijkt ook dat bijna een derde van de ondervraagde bedrijven zich nog niet voldoende heeft voorbereid voor die periode, zoals het vooruitplannen op een te verwachten dip in de aanwezigheid van personeel. Ook wordt verwacht dat de 1 miljoen bezoekers negatieve effecten met zich mee zullen brengen zoals supply chain ontregeling, hogere hotelkosten en verlaging van productiviteit.
Hieronder vindt u het Engelstalige persbericht met meer informatie over het onderzoek en beeldmateriaal vindt u hier.
Vriendelijke groet, Pieter ten Bruggencate
10 januari 2012
READY YOURSELVES FOR LONDON 2012 ECONOMIC BOOST NOW, OR MISS OUT, UK SMEs TOLD
Research shows widespread optimism but a third of companies are ignoring lessons of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games
A lack of preparation could see some of the UK’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) miss out on an economic boost from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Nearly a third (30 per cent) haven’t yet taken basic measures, such as planning to maintain staffing levels or deal with supply chain disruption, according to new research by BT.
The new survey conducted by BT of 600 UK SMEs finds overall attitudes are positive despite tough economic conditions.
Fifteen per cent of SMEs said they are already involved in London 2012 and of those, 58 per cent are supplying products and services to the organisers. Even if they don’t expect to be directly affected themselves, more than two in five (41 per cent) said they have customers in London who will be affected by the Games – and that this in turn will affect their organisation.
Around one in five expects to profit from the Games. A third (33 per cent) in the private sector anticipate a sales hike and SMEs in the public sector expect service quality to improve. More than one in five (22 per cent) expect new international business opportunities both during and after London 2012.
Yet, with a million extra UK visitors forecast over the course of the Games, 64 per cent of SMEs expect some negative effects, with supply chain disruption, higher hotel costs, staff attendance and a knock to productivity high among concerns. Over a third of SMEs expect resourcing difficulties when staff want time off or are not able to get to work. Positively, more than three quarters (76 per cent) of the largest SMEs already have flexible working policies in place and one in ten will be asking logistics staff not to take leave during London 2012.
Asked about the impact on supply chains, 64 per cent expect some disruption but 40 per cent of these (25 per cent of the total) are not doing anything, seemingly leaving their business continuity to chance.
These issues could threaten hopes of a business boost in light of previous BT research on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, which found that roughly half (49 per cent) of local companies felt they could have done better from the event or missed out on opportunities.
Colin Hansen, the former British Columbia Minister responsible for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, said: “British SMEs should be optimistic because the Olympics had a huge economic benefit in Vancouver and across Canada as a whole. But the scale of the event was much bigger than anybody expected and many companies just weren’t geared up for how big the opportunity would be.
“Nobody in the UK should expect next summer to be business as usual, but with the right plans in place, such as flexible working, every business - large or small - can take advantage of the occasion and seize the long-term economic benefits.”
Baroness Jo Valentine, CEO London First, said: “London 2012 will present many opportunities to boost economic recovery and a great deal of planning has gone into providing support for business of all sizes, as well as information on how to minimise disruption. There’s still some work to be done but I would urge businesses to talk to their suppliers and customers now so that they can be sure of being ready to make the most of this fantastic event.
Graham Sutherland, managing director, BT Business said: “Despite the tough economic times, our customers tell us that they’re positive about the opportunity to grow and develop their businesses during the Games. With less than seven months to go, we encourage them to prepare now to make the most of the potential profits on offer, by putting systems and processes in place that allow them to deliver an exemplary service to their customers.”
The full results of the research, plus a short overview of key findings, can be downloaded from
business.bt.com/london-2012.
ENDS
Notes to editors
The survey was conducted by Vanson Bourne in October 2011 on behalf of BT Global Services and BT Business. 1200 senior representatives from small and large public and private sector organisations across the UK were questioned by the market researcher on BT’s behalf.
Voor meer informatie:
BT
Dennis Doodeman
PR & Corporate Relations Manager, BT Benelux
Tel: +31 (0)88 212 51 94
Mailto:
dennis.doodeman@bt.com
Edelman
Pieter ten Bruggencate
Tel: +31 (0)20 301 09 80
Mailto:
pieter.tenbruggencate@edelman.com