The four shortlisted companies are:

* Fitzpatrick Contractors
* Edmond Nuttall
* Skanska McNicholas
* Balfour Beatty

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is aiming to award the contract in the summer so trees and other plants can pre-ordered. Work is due to start on site in 2009.

Forty hectares of land in the north of the Park need to be prepared for the Games in 2012. The winning contractor will manage tree planting, create new wetland and other wildlife habitats, and install benches, lighting and drainage. They will also be responsible for building northern part of the temporary Olympic Concourse, which will link venues, entrances and parklands.

ODA Parklands and Public Realm project sponsor John Hopkins said: ‘We have had an encouraging response from industry keen to be involved in transforming former industrial land into a living and breathing Olympic Park. We have an impressive shortlist and we look forward to appointing a world-class contractor’

After the Games the contractor will be in charge of removing the concourse and replacing it with open meadows and parkland suitable for the local community. New allotments will also replace the Manor Garden allotments that were previously located on the site.

A contract for the landscaping of the south of the Park will be issued later in 2008.