Businesses that lost out on bidding for work on the 2012 London Olympics venue claim the consortium that won, which includes Colorado company CH2M Hill, had an unfair advantage.
The United Kingdom’s Olympic Delivery Authority chose a consortium called CLM from a short list of four groups to oversee the construction work on the massive project. The winner consists of Douglas County-based engineering, design and construction firm CH2M Hill; a British construction group, Laing O’Rourke; and a management and construction company, Mace Limited.
Mace reportedly had people working within the authority during the bidding process, according to British media reports. None of the other consortiums had staffers in the authority.
Members of two unsuccessful bidding consortiums have “quietly” voiced their concerns that Mace gained an advantage from its staffers in the authority, according to The Sunday Times.
In a telephone interview, a CH2M Hill spokesman in London, Matthew Neylan, said there was no contact between Mace employees in the authority and those pursuing the contract.
“There is nothing new here at all,” he said.
“We created strong Chinese walls including no contact between the two teams throughout the delivery partner bid to ensure there was absolutely no conflict of interest,” Neylan said.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
