British company overcharges CGOC

British firm charged inflated prices from CWG OC: report

Press Trust Of India
London, August 22, 2010

In yet another damaging revelation, a British company reportedly charged the Delhi Commonwealth Games Organising Committee more than double of what a rival firm was offering for doing the overlays work at venues. According to a report in The Guardian, an event-organising company that
claims to work with stars including Elton John and Rihanna charged inflated prices for items such as tissue papers and liquid soap dispensers at the Games venues. "ES Group is part of a consortium accused of charging inflated prices for supplying items to the games," the newspaper reported.
"The company and its partners charged organisers 64 pounds each for 360 tissue paper dispensers. Comparable items were available for just 9 pounds from another games supplier. It supplied 176 rubbish bins at 104 pounds each, compared with the 16 pounds charged by another group. And the 20 sinks it supplied each cost – at 501 pounds a time – more than double those provided by a rival," the report claimed.
The newspaper claimed that four groups were selected to do the overlays at the stadiums.
"ES Group won a 20 million pound contract under the name ESAJV D Art Indo, covering three venues, a temporary stadium for the rugby and 18 training facilities," the report said.
When contacted, the company refused to react citing confidentiality clauses in its contract with OC.
"As is the case with all major international sporting events, the Delhi Organising Committee has imposed very strict confidentiality clauses in the contracts. For this reason we are unable to discuss the terms of our agreement," Liz Madden, the company's head of sales and marketing, said.
The report added: "It remains unclear how the company was able to convince organisers to pay 129 pounds for each of the 480 liquid soap dispensers it supplied, despite the Swiss group Nussli charging just 2.57 pounds for comparable items for its three groups of venues. The soap dispensers alone earned ES 61,920 pounds."