Sky worth 120,000 jobs
July 5, 2012
The economic impact made by Sky on the UK is revealed for the first time in an independent study conducted by consultancy Oxford Economics, claim its authors.
The Economic Impact of Sky on the UK finds that Sky makes a significant contribution to the economy in terms of GDP, jobs and taxes paid. It also shows how the company has stimulated economic activity in a wide range of associated companies and industries, through relationships with thousands of UK suppliers and business partners. The report concludes: “Sky’s footprint is UK wide and its contribution is felt in almost every part of the country.”
The key findings from the study include:
Contribution to GDP:
– Sky is estimated to support a £5.4 billion (€6.6bn) contribution to UK GDP in calendar 2011.
– In that year, Sky generated sales of £6.4 billion and over 75 per cent of this revenue was retained in the UK.
– Sky’s direct contribution to GDP of £2.2 billion is equivalent to around 40 per cent of the contribution made by the entire TV and radio creative sector in the UK.
– For every £1 billion Sky contributes directly to GDP itself, it generates another £1.4 billion in the rest of the economy through its purchase of goods and services and staff spending their wages.
– In 2011 Sky used 4,000 suppliers across the UK, including 645 independent suppliers in sports production and 110 independent producers in entertainment and the arts.
Contribution to jobs:
– At the end 2011, Sky employed 22,800 people in the UK, more than half as many as the entire pharmaceuticals industry. This included 9,400 people in London, 6,430 in Scotland, and 1,560 in Yorkshire and Humberside.
– 2,600 people are employed by Sky in producing and commissioning content. This is set to grow as Sky increases its investment in original British content to £600 million by 2014. By the end of 2011, Sky had already increased its UK content spend to £450 million a year.
– In the last three years, Sky has hired 3,800 young people (16 to 24 years), including nearly 300 graduate trainees and apprentices.
– Sky employs 800 engineers in software development and testing, representing 1 per cent of all people employed in the UK’s software development industry.
– Sky supports thousands more jobs through the suppliers it uses and the products and services it procures.
– In total Sky is estimated to support 118,600 jobs in the UK through its procurement of goods and services and consumer spending out of the wage income of its staff. This includes 1.2 per cent of all employment in London and 0.6 per cent of all jobs in Scotland.
Contribution to tax revenues:
– In the financial year 2010/2011, Sky directly contributed a total of £941 million to the Exchequer.
– Of this, £337 million came through corporation tax and business rates, with the balance collected on behalf of HM Treasury through employees’ labour taxes and customers’ VAT payments.
– In total, Sky is estimated to support a £2.3 billion contribution to tax revenues, including Sky’s procurement of inputs and direct and indirect staff spending is included. This is equivalent to £36 for every person in the UK.