An online service aimed at helping West Midlands companies secure a slice of the £30 billion of Olympics-related contracts between now and 2012 will be launched this month.
The national CompeteFor website - www.competefor.com - is being part-funded by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.
It is being officially launched in the region at Villa Park - one of venues that will be used during the competition - on January 23 by Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.
The service will enable registered companies, of all sizes and across all sectors, to access top-tier and lower-tier contracts from London 2012, as well as Olympic-related contracts from the host boroughs, transport contracts and the Stratford City development.
All London 2012 contracts will be posted on the CompeteFor opportunities page while the Olympic Delivery Authority and London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games will encourage all businesses in their supply chains to post their Games-related opportunities there too.
CompeteFor will also allow smaller businesses to locate similar companies elsewhere in the UK to join forces and bid jointly for larger contracts which might otherwise be out of their reach.
The aim is for CompeteFor to ensure that businesses are registered in good time to take full advantage of London 2012 opportunities.
Business Link West Midlands is already preparing the companies for the CompeteFor process, getting them ready to be able to bid for the contracts through a series of Olympic Opportunities Workshops.
Mark Pearce, corporate director for economic regeneration, said: "We believe that the entire Games-related contracts, between now and 2013, will be worth over £30 billion.
"Already, Advantage West Midlands and our partners - including Business Link West Midlands - are working to ready companies to take advantage of these colossal tender opportunities.
"But while Advantage West Midlands and Business Link will have a key role to play, it is ultimately companies in our region who will need to step up to the plate."
Already, companies from the West Midlands are winning contracts for the London 2012 Olympics.
Birmingham architect Glenn Howells has been chosen as one of the designers of the £2 billion London 2012 Olympic Village.
And H & E Smith, of Stoke, is already undertaking major tile replacement work on the London Underground as part of the massive refurbishment ahead of the Games.
"The rewards from the Games will be great and the West Midlands is superbly placed to take full advantage," said Mr Pearce.
Midlands businesses will also get support and help to gain work from the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive and West Midlands Business Council's 2012 Games Business Task Force chairman, Louise Bennett, said: "Businesses across the West Midlands region are getting help to gain work from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
"With events being held in nearly every town and city across the West Midlands region, in partnership with Advantage West Midlands, and with a free-to-use website - www.ready-for-business.co.uk - to find out about the
opportunities from the London Games, we are determined that more and more Midlands businesses gain work from this country's biggest procurement opportunity since the end of the Second World War.
"But now Midlands businesses also have a chance to gain work from the recent decision to grant Glasgow the right to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. While not on the same scale as the 2012 Games, the needs of athletes, support staff, media and visitors from 71 nations going to Glasgow will need to be catered for.
"With Midlands firms in easy travelling time of both London and Glasgow, this is a great chance to gain new work - and we will be there to help ensure the information businesses need will be on hand."
Grant Melrose, of the University of Warwick's West Midlands Collaborative Commerce Marketplace, added: "With two major sporting tournaments not too far from the Midlands, local firms have a great chance to win the race for business success".
Meanwhile, Olympic Gold medal-winning swimmer Duncan Goodhew is set to host a special event in Sutton Coldfield which aims to find future stars of business from the Midlands.
The Make Sport Your Business seminar, organised by Premier Sport - which claims to be the UK's largest kids' sports coaching company - will provide an opportunity for people with a passion for sport to learn how they can build a successful business. It is offering a number of new franchise opportunities throughout the Midlands.
Premier Sport hosts 1,500 sessions every week for 100,000 children nationwide. The Make Sport Your Business seminar takes place at the Lea Marston Hotel, Sutton Coldfield, next Monday.
The programme has proved to be successful at a time when schools have to meet government targets to provide sport both in the curriculum and outside of school hours. Premier Sport says it is providing opportunities for children to get active while enjoying a range of sports.
Mr Goodhew said: "Sport and business has provided me with a great lifestyle and that is why I am delighted to be an ambassador for Premier Sport, a company that offers a route for coaches and business-minded people to enjoy a similar lifestyle - building a business, doing something they love."
