This is just unreal..from the BBC
Senior managers at G4S only realised "eight or nine days ago", that they could not provide enough security guards for the London Olympics, the company's chief executive has said.
Nick Buckles told the BBC that problems in the recruitment and deployment process were only recently identified.
He also could not guarantee all the security staff spoke fluent English.
G4S will charge Olympic organisers Locog £280m, but says it will lose up to £50m on the contract.
Mr Buckles said the company accepted it had "underestimated the task of supplying staff to the Olympics".
"We deeply regret that... and we are deeply disappointed. It was a daunting task to supply that number of staff in a short time scale.
"I began to know it was going wrong eight or nine days ago... Basically we are recruiting a large number of people and they are all working through a process of interview, two or three different degrees of training, licensing and accreditation.
"It is only when you get closer to the Games, you realise that the number is not as high as you expect," Mr Buckles added.
G4S signed a contract with Locog in 2010 to supply 2,000 security staff to work at Olympic venues.
In December 2011, the Games organisers asked the company to provide an additional 8,000 guards, bringing the total to 10,000 staff.
Mr Buckles would not confirm exactly how much the government were penalising the company for failing to fulfil the contract. But he estimated the figure would be around £10m.
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Senior managers at G4S only realised "eight or nine days ago", that they could not provide enough security guards for the London Olympics, the company's chief executive has said.
Nick Buckles told the BBC that problems in the recruitment and deployment process were only recently identified.
He also could not guarantee all the security staff spoke fluent English.
G4S will charge Olympic organisers Locog £280m, but says it will lose up to £50m on the contract.
Mr Buckles said the company accepted it had "underestimated the task of supplying staff to the Olympics".
"We deeply regret that... and we are deeply disappointed. It was a daunting task to supply that number of staff in a short time scale.
"I began to know it was going wrong eight or nine days ago... Basically we are recruiting a large number of people and they are all working through a process of interview, two or three different degrees of training, licensing and accreditation.
"It is only when you get closer to the Games, you realise that the number is not as high as you expect," Mr Buckles added.
G4S signed a contract with Locog in 2010 to supply 2,000 security staff to work at Olympic venues.
In December 2011, the Games organisers asked the company to provide an additional 8,000 guards, bringing the total to 10,000 staff.
Mr Buckles would not confirm exactly how much the government were penalising the company for failing to fulfil the contract. But he estimated the figure would be around £10m.
