Anger over US printed Olympic tickets

[superkartracer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-169294...

Trying to workout why you would fly 10 tons of paper that far... there are plenty of dying printers in the UK that would have loved this work

Don't get it

[dandarez]

Britain today. You couldn't make it up.


Only surprise beyond it is that a Chinese company didn't get the contract - would have been cheaper.

Mind you, if they had been printed here in 'Blighty, the company would probably be foreign owned anyway.

Never mind, we're all in it (the sh*te) together.

[Puggit]

[F i F]

Decision by people who know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

[Ozzie Osmond]

superkartracer said:

Trying to workout why you would fly 10 tons of paper that far...

I hope you don't drink Perrier water or imported Mexican/Thai/Indian beer then!

[superkartracer]

Further reading states the job as too complex, so we can't even print a few tickets now?

[Laurel Green]

F i F said:

Decision by people who know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

Could not agree more!

[superkartracer]

Ozzie Osmond said:

I hope you don't drink Perrier water or imported Mexican/Thai/Indian beer then!

[davepoth]

I have a "little" bit of knowledge in the area. Printing of tickets, at least at the level these ones need to be done at, is not simple. There's a very high risk of counterfeiting so the tickets have to be printed to a high level, considering the face value of some of the tickets.

We used to have quite a few companies who could do that here in the UK, but we've lost at least one of the big secure printers in the UK (BemroseBooth) and I'm not sure if the other two that I can think of (Adare Halcyon and Smith and Ouzman) would have the capability to manage such a big project. De La Rue have very much moved out of this arena in the UK, so any of their printing would have been done in Kenya anyway.

The US company who won the job have done an Olympics in the last two years, and I assume they did it well, which puts a massive feather in their cap. Getting the job done right is more important than getting it done cheap.

[Steameh]

davepoth said:

I have a "little" bit of knowledge in the area. Printing of tickets, at least at the level these ones need to be done at, is not simple. There's a very high risk of counterfeiting so the tickets have to be printed to a high level, considering the face value of some of the tickets.

We used to have quite a few companies who could do that here in the UK, but we've lost at least one of the big secure printers in the UK (BemroseBooth) and I'm not sure if the other two that I can think of (Adare Halcyon and Smith and Ouzman) would have the capability to manage such a big project. De La Rue have very much moved out of this arena in the UK, so any of their printing would have been done in Kenya anyway.

The US company who won the job have done an Olympics in the last two years, and I assume they did it well, which puts a massive feather in their cap. Getting the job done right is more important than getting it done cheap.

A good insight, thanks

[superkartracer]

davepoth said:

I have a "little" bit of knowledge in the area

Me too

http://www.printweek.com/Business/article/1116219/...

http://www.delarue.com/AboutUs/

They could have done this job even though it might have been printed outside the UK, but at least it's a UK business.

[davepoth]

Guam said:

All taken onboard and good to have some facts, surely though a way could have been found? Given the humongous amounts this has cost us all, some return to the UK economy is not unreasonable to expect though?

It could have been given to a UK company, but we would have likely ended up paying more for an inferior product.

[richardxjr]

davepoth said:

We used to have quite a few companies who could do that here in the UK, but we've lost at least one of the big secure printers in the UK (BemroseBooth) and I'm not sure if the other two that I can think of (Adare Halcyon and Smith and Ouzman) would have the capability to manage such a big project. De La Rue have very much moved out of this arena in the UK, so any of their printing would have been done in Kenya anyway.

The US company who won the job have done an Olympics in the last two years, and I assume they did it well, which puts a massive feather in their cap. Getting the job done right is more important than getting it done cheap.

S&O are down the road from me, and I started out there. They certainly couldn't handle it in house

I agree entirely with your last paragraph. It's a specialized job that what's left of this industry cannot handle in this country.

[jas xjr]

Ozzie Osmond said:

I hope you don't drink Perrier water or imported Mexican/Thai/Indian beer then!

A lot of foreign beers are actually bottles in the uk .

[superkartracer]

davepoth said:

It could have been given to a UK company, but we would have likely ended up paying more for an inferior product.

Have to agree, and sadly applies to many sectors, but i think the point here is they were never given the chance in the first instance.

[rover 623gsi]

superkartracer said:

Have to agree, and sadly applies to many sectors, but i think the point here is they were never given the chance in the first instance.

you mean British companies weren't allowed to tender for the contract? really?

[KobayashiMaru]

It's a shame that I'm actually not surprised to read this.

[Jimbeaux]

superkartracer said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-169294...

Trying to workout why you would fly 10 tons of paper that far... there are plenty of dying printers in the UK that would have loved this work

Don't get it

Perhaps the sales tax, VAT, whatever-else-tax, was more expensive than just flying it over the Atlantic. TBH though, this is stupid IMO. Hosting an Olympics is a national event and as such should feature all things associated with the host, to include merchants. I can assure you that if the roles were reversed, we would be pissed as well.

Edited by Jimbeaux on Thursday 9th February 14:08

[Jimbeaux]

Guam said:

davepoth said:

I have a "little" bit of knowledge in the area. Printing of tickets, at least at the level these ones need to be done at, is not simple. There's a very high risk of counterfeiting so the tickets have to be printed to a high level, considering the face value of some of the tickets.

We used to have quite a few companies who could do that here in the UK, but we've lost at least one of the big secure printers in the UK (BemroseBooth) and I'm not sure if the other two that I can think of (Adare Halcyon and Smith and Ouzman) would have the capability to manage such a big project. De La Rue have very much moved out of this arena in the UK, so any of their printing would have been done in Kenya anyway.

The US company who won the job have done an Olympics in the last two years, and I assume they did it well, which puts a massive feather in their cap. Getting the job done right is more important than getting it done cheap.

All taken onboard and good to have some facts, surely though a way could have been found? Given the humongous amounts this has cost us all, some return to the UK economy is not unreasonable to expect though?

Agreed. Accountants and Engineers (except those on PH ) could screw up a one car funeral.

[rover 623gsi]

Guam said:

All taken onboard and good to have some facts, surely though a way could have been found? Given the humongous amounts this has cost us all, some return to the UK economy is not unreasonable to expect though?

most of the money spent has gone / is going to UK firms but I don't think you could guarantee that ALL money can be spent in the host country. I note that the American firm producing the tickets also got the contract to produce them for the Sydney Olympics.