Economic Impact Assessment of British GP

The study identified the scale, nature and distribution of spending associated with the event, as well as the resulting income and employment benefits of the event at both national and regional level. The government agencies involved are East Midlands Development Agency (emda), Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).

The total expenditure of £34.7m directly attributable to the event generated income of £17.2m within the UK as a whole, of which £5.6m benefited a region with a 50-mile radius of Silverstone. The event generated the equivalent of 1148 full-time jobs over a 12-month period across the UK, of which 403 were in the local region.

Visitor expenditure was estimated at £10m for tickets, £6.3m on food, drink, merchandise and other items on-site, and £5.1m on accommodation, food, drink and other products outside the circuit.

The economic impact of spending by teams and overseas visitors provides a guide to the minimum net contribution of the Grand Prix to the UK economy. This is the base figure for what would be lost if the race was no longer held. The research indicates that this would be approximately 20 percent of the overall economic impact (expenditure of £7.2m, the equivalent of 230 full-time jobs and £3.4m of income).

The report points out that, as well as the substantial direct economic benefits, the British GP brings intangible benefits for the UK motorsport industry in 'Motorsport Valley' by providing a platform to showcase high-performance engineering expertise and resources. In addition, the event offers significant but unquantifiable benefits for the wider economy by presenting the UK and the region in a positive light to a worldwide TV audience of over 300m.