Economic Impact of Concerts at the Emirates Stadium
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Document Ref: CG/1 Proof of Evidence of Chris Green BSc MA MRTPI Town & Country Planning Act 1990, Section 78 Appeal by Arsenal Football Club Emirates Stadium – Music Concerts Appeal Reference: APP/V5570/A/13/2202521 LPA Reference: P2013/0392/S73RC October 2013 Document Ref: CG/1 Contents 1 Name and Qualifications .............................................................. 1 2 Context .......................................................................................... 2 3 Impact of concerts ....................................................................... 4 4 Economic impact assessment approach.................................... 7 5 On-site impact .............................................................................11 6 Off-site impact .............................................................................17 7 Overall economic impact ............................................................23 8 Wider impact ................................................................................27 9 Summary of findings ...................................................................34 Document Ref: CG/1 1 Name and Qualifications 1.1. My name is Christopher Charles Green. I hold the degrees of Bachelor of Social Sciences, University of Bristol, and Master of Town and Regional Planning, University of Sheffield. I have been a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) since 1978. 1.2. I am Chief Executive of SQW Group Limited, which is the parent company of SQW Limited, Oxford Innovation Limited and Oxford Innovation Services Limited. The Group has approximately 240 employees. In addition to my role as Chief Executive, I work part of my time as a director with SQW, an economic consultancy, leading projects in a variety of areas concerned with economic development. SQW employs approximately 40 consultants, and works throughout the UK and internationally from offices in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. 1.3. I have worked at the interface between economic development and planning for the last 35 years, including 10 years in local government in England and Australia, and 25 years in private consultancy. As an economic consultant with an understanding of planning, I have advised a wide range of clients, including developers, land owners, central and local government, local enterprise partnerships, universities and international agencies such as World Bank. 1.4. I have undertaken economic impact assessments of projects, programmes and events throughout the UK. I am based at SQW’s London office and have worked extensively on projects in and around the capital throughout my career. 1 Document Ref: CG/1 2 Context 2.1 In September 2013, SQW was commissioned by Arsenal Football Club to undertake research on the economic impact of concerts held at the Emirates Stadium, to inform an appeal against a decision by Islington Council to refuse permission to increase the number of concerts from three to six per year. In 2013, three concerts were hosted at the Emirates Stadium, two Muse concerts in late May and one by Green Day at the start of June. These three events attracted over 140,000 people. 2.2 This proof of evidence assesses economic impact at three geographic levels: the local area (Islington), Greater London and the UK. Calculations are based on estimates of expenditure provided by the concert organisers, estimates of off-site expenditure using secondary data and feedback from local businesses on the scale of off-site impact at the local level. 2.3 The research has involved: a desk-based review of other relevant research on the impact of music events and other cultural/ sporting events; consultations and data gathering with the event organisers, SJM Concerts, and Arsenal F.C.; consultations with key local suppliers; a survey of local businesses and a survey of pop-up businesses. About SQW 2.4 SQW is a leading independent UK consultancy specialising in economic and social development. Economic impact assessment is one of our core areas of expertise. The firm has over 25 years’ experience of undertaking ex-post and ex-ante economic impact assessments working with a diverse set of clients including central government departments, local authorities, universities and property developers. Our approach to economic impact is informed by HM Treasury guidance. 2.5 Assessing the impact of sporting, cultural and other events and facilities is a particular strength. Our experience includes assessing the economic impact of the proposed Magnet Centre in Oxford (a national science based visitor attraction), the Edinburgh Festivals, the G8 Summit, the cycling Tour of Britain, the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Birmingham Festival and the new V&A Gallery in Dundee. We have also assessed the impact of horse-racing at Newmarket, the Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone and valued the impact of golf tourism to Scotland. 2 Document Ref: CG/1 2.6 In terms of infrastructure projects, our experience includes an economic impact assessment of Glasgow Prestwick Airport, an economic appraisal of Lancaster Science Park and impacts of new university research facilities in Manchester, Warwick, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In addition, we have assessed the impact of broadband infrastructure for local and central government and the socio-economic impacts of offshore wind-farm developments for the large energy firms. These types of studies all involve considering the additional economic activity that is being generated by a project, event or new facility in different geographic areas. 2.7 SQW was supported on this project by Qa Research, who undertook the survey of local businesses using a questionnaire designed by SQW. Qa Research is an experienced independent market research company, established in 1989 (www. qaresearch.co.uk). SQW has a long term working relationship with Qa Research and uses them frequently for business and other surveys. 3 Document Ref: CG/1 3 Impact of concerts – published research Headline figures 3.1 UK Music which represents the UK music industry published research in October 2013 which underlines the importance of music concerts and festivals to the economy. The ‘Wish You Were Here’ research1 estimates that £1.3 billion is spent directly by 6.5 million music tourists annually in the UK. Taking into account the wider supply chain impact or indirect expenditure, the total rises to £2.2 billion. The study defines ‘music tourists’ by the distance travelled to the event, and estimates that 41% of audiences are music tourists. If someone travelled three times the average commuting distance to go to a concert they were considered a music tourist. 3.2 The research provides a breakdown of figures for different parts of the country and the headline statistics relating to London are provided in the table below. With 1.8 million music tourists, London receives 28% of all music tourists in the UK total. These tourists spend £322 million on concerts and festivals which is a quarter of the total expenditure. A relatively high proportion of music tourists in London are from overseas: 11%, compared to the UK average of 6%. Table 3-1: Economic impact of music tourism in London Number % of London total Spending Total number of music tourists 1,797,000 100% £322m Overseas music tourists 194,000 11% £123m Domestic music tourists 1,603,000 89% £199m Concert tourists 1,622,000 90% £242m Festival tourists 176,000 10% £80m Source: UK Music/ Oxford Economics (2013) 3.3 The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, responded to the publication of the report by stating: “the music industry is hugely important to our economy, but also to how visitors perceive our country. London is right at the heart of this dynamic sector……... As this excellent report shows, a rocking £322 million was spent by music tourists in the capital last year, proving that London remains a mecca for music lovers the world 2 over.” 1 UK Music/ Oxford Economics (2013), Wish You Were Here – Music Tourism’s Contribution to the UK Economy 2 http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/gigs-bring-300m-boost-to-london-8874191.html?origin=internalSearch 4 Document Ref: CG/1 Breakdown of expenditure 3.4 The UK Music research provides figures on different elements of music tourism spending. This is set out in the table below including the relevant percentages. These figures are based on a range of sources including the AIF (Association of Independent Festivals) Survey. As a result the average spend figure of around £220 is quite high as it takes into account the spending of festival attendees who can spend up to four days at events. The important aspect in relation to our subsequent calculations is the breakdown of expenditure in percentage terms. 3.5 Just under half (47%) of spectator expenditure is made on-site. The off-site expenditure is then split in terms of accommodation, travel, ‘off-site’ spend (which we assume to be food and drink) and other. This breakdown of off-site expenditure is used in our calculations of economic impact of concerts at the Emirates Stadium. Table 3-2: Breakdown of music tourism expenditure Domestic tourist Local spectator Foreign tourist Weighted average Value % Value % Value % Value % Accommodation £36.7 16% £12.9 10% £129.5 27% £35.8 16% Travel £45.0 19% £13.1 10% £191.9 40% £44.8 20% Onsite spend £112.1 48% £75.7 59% £113 23% £104.3 47% Offsite spend £26.9 11% £12.2 10% £26.0 5% £23.7 11% Other £13.8 6% £13.8 11% £21.7 5% £14.2 6% Total £234.5 100% £127.7 100% £482.1 100% £222.8 100% Source: SQW analysis of UK Music/ Oxford Economics data Other concerts