It has been reported in the press that LOCOG has awarded the ticket-printing contract to the American company Weldon, Williams & Lick.
The Commission is not involved in LOCOG’s procurement process, and was consequently not involved in the decision to select a printer for the tickets.
However, the Commission is keen to understand how sustainability issues were factored into the decision to appoint Weldon, Williams & Lick, given that transporting tickets from the US to the UK will result in carbon emissions, regardless of the mode of transport.
The Commission will be asking LOCOG to confirm how sustainability considerations were taken into account during the procurement process; in particular focusing on the environmental sustainability of transporting the tickets from abroad. The Commission will also be asking LOCOG about the employment value that the contract represents, in light of the 2012 Games’ aim to provide employment opportunities within the UK.
The preliminary advice from LOCOG to the Commission is that British companies were invited to tender for the contract, and that the contract was awarded on the basis that the company met all of their criteria around security, budget and scale and has specialist systems in place to personalise, print and package tickets on the scale they require. LOCOG has also stated that tickets sold after May will be printed in the UK.
The Commission continues to research the matter and will publish an updated statement once further information has been received from LOCOG.
