No contingency plans for Olympics 'may cost firms billions'

Research by the MWB Business Exchange of 430 London companies in potential travel hotspots finds that they are under-prepared for the Games in ways that could cost the economy billions of pounds.

A London-wide Olympic stress test of businesses in readiness for the Games starts today – 80 days before the opening ceremony. MWB says this is too little, too late.

MWB's head of Olympics, Kathryn Hurt, said: "We've been calling on companies to stress-test their systems for months. Now with just 80 days to go, businesses are slowly waking up to the fact that they need to prepare. But it could be too little, too late.

"Our survey shows that many London businesses are sleepwalking into a potential work nightmare. Businesses who have not thought about it are really going to be hit the hardest."

She added: "During snowday in February 2009, £1bn was lost from the economy. Now times that by the 17 days of the Olympics, and you can see the potential hit UK plc could take."

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