Olympic Games

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G4S recruitment process in Coventry 'crazy'



A former security adviser from Coventry has criticised the recruitment process by G4S as "crazy".

Bernard Brennan said he was recently accepted to work as a team leader at the City of Coventry stadium during the Olympic Games.

He said he was then told several days later he would no longer be needed but has since seen similar jobs advertised.

A spokesman for G4S said: "We are sorry that potential employees have experienced difficulties."

Mr Brennan, previously a security adviser at University Hospitals NHS Trust Coventry and Warwickshire, said G4S had confirmed a week ago he had a role as a team leader.

He said he was then told on Thursday that he would no longer be needed, but found an advert for a security job with G4S on Friday at the stadium through a local employment agency.

'Excuse after excuse'

Mr Brennan said: "I'm very frustrated, I've been unemployed since November and my background has been in security.

"For me this job wasn't just a job, I take pride in what I do and I was excited to have an opportunity to get involved in the Olympics but to be told 'thanks but no thanks' is very annoying.

"It's been excuse after excuse after excuse in this jobs fiasco - they got my accreditation through but said they didn't think they'd get my references through in time for the Olympics."

Earlier this month G4S admitted it would not be able to supply all of the 10,000 security staff to Locog and 3,500 UK armed forces personnel are to be deployed to make up the shortfall.

A statement from G4S said: "While we aren't able to comment on individual cases, we are sorry that potential employees have experienced difficulties through the recruitment process.

"The large increase in numbers of staff requested by [Olympics Games organiser] Locog has been extremely challenging, and we have encountered some delays in progressing applicants through the final stages."

Mr Brennan said: "I don't think they've dealt with it very well and my view is that G4S have just tried to put bums on seats and have lowered the standards in relation to how they're recruiting."

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Calls to fill Olympic events at Coventry Stadium with ticket giveaways



OLYMPICS organisers are facing calls to make Coventry tickets available free to schoolchildren, with swathes of empty seats expected again on Tuesday night.

The South Stand at the Ricoh Arena (renamed the City of Coventry Stadium for the Olympics) is expected to be closed for the women's football match between New Zealand and Cameroon, because of disappointing ticket sales.

Calls for greater flexibility with City of Coventry Stadium tickets for remaining games if necessary – including giveaways to schools, colleges or local sports clubs – are being led by former city councillor and ex-MP Dave Nellist.

A campaigner against Olympics corporatism, he said: “If the Olympic experience means anything, give them away to schoolchildren. Coventry should lead.”

The Coventry Telegraph has also raised questions since Thursday about empty seats in Coventry – ahead of a national outcry over unused tickets for high-demand London Olympics events.

Coventry’s Olympics 2012 organisers, based at Coventry City Council, also told the Coventry Telegraph they supported calls to get more into the stadium for what is billed as “the greatest show on earth”.

But the part-council-owned Ricoh Arena – renamed for the Olympics – has been handed over to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG).

Laurence Archer, LOCOG’s media manager for Coventry, said problems in London of sponsors, or the “Olympics family” (including international officials), not turning up to use allocated tickets was not a problem in Coventry for football – which he said was traditionally a lower demand Olympic sport than athletics, swimming or gymnastics.

He said only about 150 VIP tickets per game were made available in Coventry for the Olympics family, while any sponsors’ allocations not purchased for individual games were already being re-allocated for general sale.

Asked if LOCOG could release more free tickets to schoolchildren or colleges, as was announced this weekend for the larger Hampden Park in Glasgow, he pointed to difficulties with the school holiday, and said LOCOG’s general position was not to drop face-value ticket prices, as it would be unfair on those who paid the full price.

He added thousands of free tickets to schools and colleges had already been allocated for Coventry games.

Mr Archer told the Telegraph the south stand was likely to be closed off again on Tuesday night, due to expected ticket sales well below Sunday’s two-match men’s football sell-out.

He said official attendance for Sunday’s first game between Mexico and Gabon was 28,000 in the 32,500-capacity stadium, and Coventry had sold the largest number of football tickets after Wembley (at £20/40/60 adults, and “pay your age” for under 16s).

A full house is also expected for Wednesday's men’s football “double header” – Japan v Honduras and Senegal v United Arab Emirates.

But Tom Clift, Olympics organiser in Coventry based at the city council, conceded people might not stay for both games, which “gives the empty seat look beyond our control.”

He added: “We fully support calls to get more people into the stadium. Unfortunately, even with free tickets/giveaways, sometimes they do not all take up the allocation or turn up on the day.”

Women’s football fans will learn on Tuesday night whether the British “Team GB” or Brazil will be playing in Coventry at Friday evening’s quarter-final.

High sales are expected for any Team GB match, and potentially for Coventry’s last of eight matchdays – the bronze medal match on August 9.