ODA's CompeteFor system 'a waste of money'

The Olympic Delivery Authority's pre-qualification system is a "waste of our hard-earned taxpayers' money", a construction boss has claimed.

Michael Lynch, head of business development at demolition firm The Erith Group, questioned the value of the ODA's 'CompeteFor' system, when systems like Constructionline already exist.

"Am I alone in the industry at being appalled by the Olympic Delivery Authority introducing yet another accreditation system for contractors and subcontractors wishing to secure work from the ODA for the 2012 Olympics," he said.

"As a 2012 Tier 2 Contractor, having gone through one of the most rigorous pre-qualification processes this country has ever seen, we are now being told, like every other contractor in the UK, that in order to get any future work from the ODA, we must subject ourselves to this new and additional accreditation system," he added.

"If the new London Mayor, Boris Johnson, wishes to reduce some "£millions" of unnecessary administrative costs, at a stroke, here is an opportunity for him to do so."

But the ODA defended the system, claiming that its offering differed from that of Constructionline.

“Rather than simply an ‘accreditation system’ CompeteFor is a completely unique service that after a simple sign-up procedure enables companies access to both direct opportunities with the ODA and LOCOG and in the supply chains of our contractors.

"We expect there to be around 75,000 opportunities in the London 2012 supply chain, covering a huge range of industries and companies, and up to a fifth could go through the CompeteFor system. Already thousand of companies, predominantly SMEs, have gone through the simple and quick registration process. The small number that do not meet the registration requirements have been automatically referred to business improvement services to help them get fit to compete,” a spokesman said.