Companies in Shropshire say securing lucrative contracts for the 2012 Olympic Games will help them to safeguard the region’s economy in coming years.

In addition to preserving existing jobs, local business leaders say that the prestige of being associated with the biggest sporting event in the world will help them to secure future orders.

Peter Harris, the commercial manager at Access Designs Ltd, at Halesfield 18, in Telford, said: “Winning work for the 2012 Olympics is prestigious. It is a very good contract for us to be involved in and it is particularly important for us because we are specialists in our field.”

Access Designs won three separate contracts for steelwork fabrications for bridges in the south of the Olympic Park, having previously supplied substantial volumes of steelwork electrical supply cables.
Mr Harris added: “Within our group we’ve been actively involved in supplying various different contracts onto the Olympic site. Here at Telford, we were very interested in secondary steelwork, walkways, architectural steelwork and so on.

“We secured a project for bridges on the site. The orders comprised of the supply and installation of bridge abutments on the Olympic sites.”

Golden Bear, at Hortonwood 40, won a deal to supply mascots Wenlock and Mandeville. BBC sports presenter Clare Balding visited the firm to officially launch the first of its range of Olympic products.

The two figures, unveiled by Golden Bear earlier this year, have now been joined by a host of soft and plastic toys and gift products, all of which are manufactured in China.

Clare said: “I had seen Wenlock and Mandeville before and was really pleased to see William Penny-Brooks celebrated in the form of Wenlock and his Much Wenlock roots. These toys help us all to feel part of London 2012. ”

Elements Europe Ltd, on the Mile Oak Industrial Estate, in Maesbury Road, Oswestry, is supplying 285 bathroom pods, which will be used in accommodation blocks in the Olympic Village. The company is also set to supply bathroom pods to a new hotel being built next to Olympic Park.

Gemma Davies, office and marketing manager, said the Olympic contract had not created additional jobs, but had provided guarantees for existing staff.

She said: “It’s good news for us to secure the contract, it’s a testatment to off-site construction becoming more widely-accepted.”