Time to get your business Olympic fit

Flexible working is a new Olympic sport. Get training now!

Boris Johnson, transport secretary Philip Hammond and Transport for London have revealed their masterplan to prevent gridlock on the roads and public transport in London during the Olympics. Get everyone to stay at home and do “flexible working”.

So, if you run an SME or a larger business in or around London or one of the other Olympic venues, is this a problem? Or an opportunity? Maybe it’s time you looked at making your business fit to cope with interruptions such as the Olympics.

“We need to get people to think about how they plan their journeys,” Hammond told journalists last week. “Certainly, the government will be allowing significant numbers of people to work from home during the Games to ease the burden on the transport system.” People are going to be encouraged to work from home, or to change their working hours.

This clarion call is all very well, but local authorities in London are not convinced it is enough. City Corporation officials recently demanded a hasty meeting with Transport for London, convinced the authority is doing too little, too slowl. At the heart of their concerns is Upper Thames Street, which during the games is supposed to be transformed into an east-west Olympic “superhighway”, complete with a dedicated fast lane for games officials and VIPs.

Only problem is, this road runs through the centre of “the world’s leading financial centre” and is criss-crossed by roads with traffic light junctions; and it is physically crossed by tens of thousands of workers every day, on the last/first stage of their commute from suburban home to City office. In May, committee members branded the latest update from traffic planners “a disgraceful effort”, and called on officials to start a proactive PR campaign ahead of “an unfolding catastrophe – with the City likely to be in the firing line.”

There are bound to be plenty of other, equally awkward points across London and in other locations in the UK, where folk trying to get on with their normal business will be interrupted by the passage of spectators, competitors and Olympic officials.

Time will tell whether fingers get appropriately pulled out. At least everyone should be clear on the date the project needs to be ready for. So will your business be affected? And can you plan to minimise the disruption? Stand by for SME7′s business guide to surviving the 2012 Olympics.

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