Procurement plays a pivotal role in the delivery and execution of the Olympic Games. However, it was not always like that. The organizing committee of the 2012 London Olympic games took the decision to invest in strategic procurement like never before. The result: the success of team created a legacy whereby the IOC has recognized that procurement must play a pivotal role in the delivery of all subsequent Games.
I am joined today by Gerry Walsh, the CPO of the London 2012 games. We discuss his and his team’s Olympic journey, including the key challenges his team faced, how they overcame them, and the extraordinary lengths that they went to, to ensure that the Organizing Committee fulfilled their CSR commitments.
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“The team established a model for procurement that has never previously been done by an organizing committee. By proactively liaising with teams across LOCOG, it revolutionized the way procurement operates – Lord Coe.”
In this episode, you will learn:
- Why LOCOG decided to invest in strategic procurement
- How Gerry and his team were able to win the hearts and minds of stakeholders to enable engagement
- The key procurement challenges in delivering an Olympic Games
- The importance of sustainability – and the lengths that his team would go to ensure that each supplier met the CSR requirements of the Organizing Committee
- Why strategic procurement is now embedded into the delivery of subsequent Games
Links and Resources:
- Subscribe to the Art of Procurement podcast.
- Gerry Walsh on LinkedIn.
- London 2012 Learning Legacy – Procurement Case Studies
