Earlier this year the Gainsborough-based firm, which supplied more than 78,000 linear metres of decking for the Olympic Park build, was refused a marketing licence by the Supplier Recognition Scheme (SRS) on the grounds that its product supplied – JB CitiDeck antislip – was in an “excluded” category.
SRS, an initiative between the British Olympic Association and the International Olympic Committee to allow suppliers to the Games projects to promote their involvement, had told John Brash that the product was classified as a “composite” product because of the preservative treatment used and therefore infringed rights of worldwide Olympic sponsors.
At the same time other timber companies whose products were used in the Park construction were granted a licence.
But John Brash fought the refusal, protesting that the CitiDeck product was not a composite product but was made from European redwood with the preservative treatment necessary to boost durability. All manufacturing and treatment operations, it added, were carried out at its Gainsborough plant.
The company expressed dismay that competitors were allowed to advertise their Olympics roles while John Brash, which says it supplied more than 80% of deck boards to the Park and Olympic village, was prevented from doing so.
In its decision to grant a marketing licence to John Brash, the SRS said it had reviewed the case and was satisfied the decking was not a composite material.
John Brash’s role in the Olympic build project is now featured on www.wemade2012.co.uk, a website set up by the Building Centre to celebrate the UK construction industry’s role in the Games.
