The Olympics & Your Business

How can we help you

The Olympics & Your BusinessThe 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games offer a fantastic opportunity for the on trade. Our research suggests that over £323m more will be spent in London this year compared to 2011 – and our Market Insights team have been working very hard to identify where that money will be spent, who will spend it, and what those people like to drink.

You can find out more by reading the Size of the Summer – our guide to making the most of this fantastic opportunity.

Hosting the Games in London does, however, pose some very real challenges for businesses, not least in terms of disruption to traffic and transport.

You can find out more about how Bibendum is planning to overcome these challenges by downloading London 2012: Seizing the Opportunity as a PDF. This document explains how London’s transport networks will be affected, how we are actively planning to manage any disruption, and how you can help us to help you.

Alternatively, scroll down and read our Olympics 2012 frequently asked questions.

When do the Olympics and Paralympics take place?

The Olympic Games take place from 27 July to 12 August 2012, and the Paralympic Games take place from 29 August to 9 September 2012.

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How big a boost will it give the UK on trade?

Our research suggests that there will be an extra £323m more spent in the London on trade in 2012 compared to 2011, a rise of over 35%. It is harder to predict what will happen outside of London but we expect to see increased spend in other Olympic venues around the UK as well as a trickledown effect owing to the huge number of visitors coming into the country.

You can find out more by reading the Size of the Summer– our guide to making the most of the fantastic opportunity offered by the Games and other events such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

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How will the Games affect my business?

The answer to this depends very much on the type of business and where it is located.

We expect certain areas of the capital, such as around St Pancras (one of the major public transport links for the Olympic Park), to do disproportionately well in terms of increased trade. Areas that are further away from Games venues and major transport links may not see so many benefits.

Venues that are located on, or close, to the Olympic Route Networks will see more transport and traffic disruption that will impact on deliveries and potential passing trade.

For more information on how we expect your specific business to be affected, contact your Bibendum Account Manager.

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What traffic disruption can I expect?

To ease the transport issues for official Olympic vehicles, there will be a dedicated networks of roads for official vehicles that link Olympic venues and competitor accommodation. These networks are called the Olympic Route Network and the Paralympic Route Network (ORN and PRN).

The ORN and PRN will operate throughout the games and will be subject to traffic measures including modified traffic signals, restricted turns and Temporary Games Lanes.

Our current understanding is that the ORN and PRN will become effective on the 25th July and operate between the hours of 6am and midnight. This means that goods deliveries to businesses on the ORN/PRN will have to take place outside of these hours.

The ORN and PRN will be backed up with the Alternate Route Network (ARN) which is designed to serve as a backup to the ORN and PRN. The ARN will only operate in the event of a serious incident on the ORN, and will only be an interim measure until the ORN is restored.

More information regarding the ORN and PRN including measures that may impact your business can be found on the TFL site.

You can also view planned road closures and the latest ORN and PRN route network maps by London Borough on the TFL site.

Follow TFL's live traffic news feed here.

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What is Bibendum doing to minimise any disruption?

We have assembled a dedicated Olympics logistics planning team who will work alongside a specialist team from our warehousing and delivery partners, Tradeteam. This group will collectively be responsible for the development of our Games fulfilment and service plan.

Final procedures are still being confirmed, but we are:

  • Sourcing extra temporary warehouse storage close to key congestion points
  • Looking at extending our opening hours for ordering and customer service, possibly to include evenings and weekends
  • Mapping all our London customers onto the proposed route of the ORN and PRN and formulating specific delivery plans for all affected businesses
  • Organising night time deliveries for business located on, or very close to, the ORN and PRN

You can find out more about how Bibendum is actively planning to manage any disruption by downloading London 2012: Seizing the Opportunity as a PDF.

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How can I minimise the impact on my business?

Ideas to help you get ahead and prepare for a very busy summer include:

  • Build stock levels in advance to reduce the need for just in time deliveries
  • Reduce your wine list and concentrate on a smaller range of highly profitable wines
  • Think premium. Lots of visitors will be more interested in quality than price. List some fantastic wines and get the tills ringing
  • Increase on-site storage capacity where possible to support larger orders on a less frequent basis
  • Identify any possible alternative delivery locations if normal access is likely to be affected and collaborate with local businesses to share the burden of receiving night time deliveries
  • Talk to your Bibendum Account Manager about potential issues specific to your business and agree general delivery requirements and delivery times

Read a TFL case study on one of Bibendum's customers, The Living Room, and see what they have planned to minimise the impact on their business.

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Where can I find more information?

More practical tips, advice and case studies can be found at on the TFL site.

The Get Ahead of the Games website also provides lots of information on travel during the Olympics, plus read their dedicated adivce for businesses section.

Alternatively, get in touch with us and we'll be happy to answer your questions.

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