Diaspora businesses must stake their claim on the Olympics
During the battle to host the 2012 Olympic Games, London's amazing diversity was our secret weapon and our winning asset. "Choose London, and you choose the world", we said. We won. Every morning when I drop my kids at school I now see the Olympic Stadium looming up where before there was a wasteland, and I'm incredibly excited – not just about the greatest sporting show on earth, but everything else that comes with it.
However a key criticism leveled at London 2012 has been that local communities, and particularly ethnically diverse communities, have yet to see equal benefit from the games arriving. For example, a few months ago a petition was launched in protest at black-owned business being 'carved out' of Olympics contracts. Perhaps it's no coincidence, then, that the biggest business-focused event happening anywhere in London during the Olympics is powered by London's black community. The African and Caribbean Business Expo, of which I am a patron, shines a light on the UK's diaspora businesses.
