Olympic Minister visits BiP Solutions’ new premises
01 May 2009
Olympic Minister Tessa Jowell visited BiP Solutions’ new headquarters – Medius, in Glasgow’s Digital Media Quarter – on 1 May to see how the company has capitalised on the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
BiP Solutions, which is a leading provider of electronic business information services for the public and private sectors, is one of 13 businesses in Scotland that have won work directly supplying the Olympic Delivery Authority, with a further 15 Scottish businesses winning Games-related work through the supply chain.
BiP Solutions developed the software for the first ever supply chain ‘business dating’ website, www.competefor.com, which alerts potential suppliers to upcoming Games-related contract opportunities. The company also provides buyer engagement services to encourage private sector buyers to publish their notices on the website.
BiP Solutions successfully secured £800,000 of Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant funding from the Scottish Government in November 2008. The funding will be used to deliver up to 100 new jobs over the next three years. The company, which currently employs 165 staff, will move its entire operation from its current premises in Shawfield, near Rutherglen to Medius in June 2009. The move to Medius coincides with the company’s 25th anniversary year.
During the Minister’s visit to Glasgow she also visited Miller Partnership, which is helping with the designs for the fastest cycle track in the world at the Olympic Velopark, Scotstoun Leisure Centre and the National Badminton Centre, with Scotland Office Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Ann McKechin.
Tessa Jowell said: “The Olympic and Paralympic Games are economic gold at a time of economic need, providing a tremendous shot in the arm for the UK economy.
“BiP Solutions and Miller Partnership are excellent examples of the important role that businesses all over the UK are playing in delivering the Olympic and Paralympic project and how the benefits of the Games are spreading way beyond London. Both companies are typical of the small and medium-sized enterprises that have won the majority of contracts awarded by the Games so far and the wide variety of business expertise needed.”
Ann McKechin said: “The 2012 Games present real opportunities for businesses in Scotland. In these uncertain economic times, the Olympic contracts provide guaranteed revenue that firms can rely on for both future workforce planning and to promote their services elsewhere, which is particularly important given that the Glasgow 2014 Games are also on the horizon.”
BiP Solutions CEO Ron Burges said: “The fact that BiP Solutions, a Glasgow-based company, has enjoyed such success in winning 2012-related contracts confirms that the opportunities that the Olympics affords are open to SMEs in all areas of the UK.
“We were delighted to welcome the Olympic Minister to share our success and learn more about BiP Solutions’ future expansion in the face of the recession.
“Our strategy is to increase the company’s capacity, and over recent months this has contributed to a 28 per cent growth in year-on-year sales. Our move to Medius is a key component in delivering our strategy, and will allow us to increase our workforce this financial year by over 15 per cent.”
