London 2012: missed out on Olympics contracts? A case study of ethnic minority organisations in East London

Although London’s golden summer of sport is now over, the question arises, what has been the legacy of the 2012 Games for ethnic minority organisations? The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were seen as an opportunity; a potential catalyst for the regeneration of East London, creating valuable jobs and business opportunities for the local community. One of the proposed benefits of the 2012 Games was the chance for local ethnic minority groups to participate in the preparation and delivery of the Games; however, little is known about the extent to which such groups were involved. This paper addresses the knowledge gap in the literature through the analysis of secondary sources. The sources shed light on the availability of Games-related contract opportunities to ethnic minority businesses and social enterprises. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of the ethnic minority third sector based upon a telephone survey and semi-structured interviews with leaders of ethnic minority social enterprises. Findings show that very few ethnic minority organisations in the East London Olympic boroughs won 2012 Games contracts; furthermore, the paper identifies a number of important issues relating to their participation in the Games.

Published online before print January 23, 2014