Canny West Midland companies can hit gold in the run up to London 2012 by thinking strategically and winning business while their counterparts in the South-east focus on the giant Olympic construction programme, according to accountants PKF.
The Olympic site is earmarked for the Thames Gateway and there are plans to build 4,000 four-bedroom homes, travel links and sporting arenas which will be used as an Olympic Village by competitors.
Partner Simon Littlejohns, PKF's Birmingham-based head of property and construction in the West Midlands, said: "London 2012 will give the UK construction industry the biggest boost it has ever seen.
"And to the cynics that say that construction companies in the South-east will have snapped up all the glamorous Olympic-related contracts, we say that is good news for West Midlands construction businesses.
"While companies in the South-east are chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the less attractive projects such as hospitals, schools, public buildings and road infrastructure will still need to be undertaken.
"Although the Olympics will create thousands of jobs, there is only so much capacity in the South-east and this is likely to be soaked up by the regeneration and redevelopments of the Lower Lea Valley around which the Olympic Games will be constructed.
"We see major opportunities for West Midlands companies in construction, civil engineering, architecture and a host of related supply and service industries to pick up lucrative contracts in the South-east while the City boys have taken their eye off the ball."
Although the Olympics could create 150,000 jobs, the National Federation of Builders said the Government needed to tackle skills shortages urgently.
