POWER firm Aggreko has won a £32 million contract for the next Winter Olympics, it has been announced.
The Glasgow-based company, which specialises in temporary power, heating and cooling, will provide electricity generators to 18 competition venues when the contest begins in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The 2018 games mark the first time the contest has been held in any Asian country but Japan and Aggreko, which operates in more than 30 nations worldwide, will also be an event sponsor.
The contract also covers power for the international broadcast centre, with Aggreko tasked with “ensuring an uninterrupted television broadcast to millions of viewers throughout the world”.
Chief executive Chris Weston said: “I am delighted that Aggreko has been appointed the official power provider for the Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018. We look forward to helping the organising committee deliver another successful games.”
In 2010 the company, which has around 450 staff in Scotland, invested £20 million in building a state of the art manufacturing plant in Dumbarton’s Lomondgate industrial estate to house its design, development and manufacturing teams.
Last August the firm announced profits had fallen by almost one third during the first half of the year in “difficult” trading conditions, predicting profits would show a slight dip for the full year.
Pre-tax profits before one-off items were down £102m to £71m for the six months to the end of June, with revenues down 12 per cent at £685m.
In 2015 it announced an £80m cost cutting programme, which included the loss of 700 jobs from its global workforce.
The latest Olympics win comes after the company pulled out of bidding for a contract for the Rio de Janeiro games last summer, attributing the decision to the scale of the summer tournament and the preparation needed.
However, it did supply power for the 2012 London Olympics, including the opening and closing ceremonies, in a £55m deal.
The games will see mountain events staged at Pyeongchang, 112 miles east of capital city Seoul, while curling, ice hockey and skating will be staged at the coastal city of Gangneung.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here