The letter, which was written by the association's secretary Jim Winship, warns organisers of the problems that are likely to arise for those creating events when the Olympics is in the capital this summer.
In the letter Winship states: "We understand from our members that a large number of the events being planned have yet to be formalised and, in many cases, little has been done to secure the equipment and support needed for them to happen. In some cases we understand that there may be an assumption that organisers can simply turn to their existing suppliers."While this might be the case in normal years, 2012 is exceptional with a huge number of events happening across the UK at the same time. This means that in some areas there is likely to be excessive pressure on suppliers, which they may not be able to respond to.
"We are particularly concerned that this could result in inexperienced suppliers entering the market with the result that something goes badly wrong and the reputation of the industry as a whole becomes tarnished. To avoid this we are urging all organisers to:
- Bring forward discussions with your suppliers, communicate your requirements for key resources, and establish whether they have sufficient capacity for your event.
- Check out all your suppliers to ensure they have suitable experience and a track record of working in the events industry. As there is no set accreditation scheme in the industry, we recommend that you check suppliers are members of a reputable trade body and have been in membership for at least 12 months. To help this we are asking all our trade organisations to work with us in providing support in confirming that companies are members if approached by organisers.
- Make sure that all events around the Olympics are fully risk assessed by someone with appropriate experience.
- Where possible link and share information with other organisers of Olympic events to co-ordinate the supply chain. Where events, such as the Torch Relay, are happening on a rolling basis it may be possible for suppliers to similarly follow the route. This could also be more economic for everyone.
The thinking behind the letter is also to ensure the Games is a major success and leaves behind a positive legacy for the event industry."
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To find out what sort of sustainable legacy the Olympics can help leave on the industry find out what Locog and various experts are doing in the next issue of Event magazine, out on 23 February, by