Danny Lucas at the Olympics opening ceremony

by business editor Trevor Sturgess

A Kent contractor that worked on Olympic contracts provided an honour guard for torchbearer Sir Steve Redgrave at the opening ceremony.

Workers from S Lucas, the Wrotham-based fit-out and paint finishing specialist, were among dozens of firms involved in the project invited to the stunning Games curtain-raiser watched by tens of thousands in the stadium and an estimated four billion television viewers worldwide.

Danny Lucas, chairman and managing director, was invited by the organisers to put together a company team for the ceremony in recognition of the work carried out at the Olympic stadium and other venues in the Olympic Park.

Team S Lucas donned hard hats and provided a spectacular guard of honour for the penultimate torchbearer as he entered the stadium before handing it to young athletes to ignite the spectacular Olympic cauldron.

Mr Lucas said: "I was tremendously proud to represent the company at the greatest show on earth watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. It was quite simply a most amazing experience."

Apart from the Olympic stadium, S Lucas - a specialist painting contractor - has been involved in Heathrow Terminal 5, The O2, Westfield Stratford City and the Shard, as well as blue chip names like the McLaren Formula One team.

It was a finalist in the Kent Excellence in Business Awards 2011 and winner of Construction News Specialists Award 2012 for Finishing and Fit Out.