Firms forced out for Games still seeking compensation three years on

Matthew Beard13 April 2012

Fortyper cent of businesses that were forced to relocate for the London Olympics have still not received full compensation more than three years after the capital won the Games.

Official figures show that 76 of the 193 companies previously located on the Olympic site near Stratford have not been fully reimbursed.

Firms have complained that the London Development Agency has been slow in processing their claims - some of which amount to six-figure sums.

One company is seeking £3million compensation for alleged undervaluation of its property.

The LDA spent more than £600million buying the 500-acre site and finding alternative premises for businesses and homes before it was handed over to Olympic developers in July 2007.

The relocation process has been the largest of its kind in Britain and it has been dogged by complaints.

Seamus Gannon, who ran concrete recycling company Bedrock Crushing on a 2.7-acre site earmarked for the Olympic stadium, accused the LDA of "Mafia-style" tactics.

Mr Gannon said: "We were made an offer two years ago which we knew was lower than it should have been but we were put under immense pressure to accept it.

"We were told, Mafia-style, it was an offer we could not refuse. It was a great business and we were going along nicely until the Olympics."

Mr Gannon is taking the LDA to a Lands Tribunal alleging that it undervalued his land paying only £2.75million when he was offered £5.75million by a developer a year earlier.

He claims the LDA also owes him another £600,000 for the remainder of the purchase price and moving costs.

Bedrock was relocated to Canning Town but Mr Gannon said he had so many complaints about dust from neighbouring businesses that he sold out eight months ago.

Not all the companies which are awaiting a final pay-off are in dispute with the LDA.

Caribbean food distributor Kapil Wadhwani, of Wanis Cash and Carry, admitted that he had not yet put in a claim.

The LDA said it had complied with a compensation code which requires it to pay 90 per cent of the agreed property purchase and disruption costs - both of which are independently assessed - before the move takes place

An LDA spokesman said: "We are doing everything we can to assist businesses, making every effort to sensitively and fairly relocate everyone from the Olympic site."

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