Cricket club worth £4.6m a year to county economy

10:50am Thursday 15th April 2010

By Richard Vernalls

THE county’s cricket club is worth £4.6 million a year to Worcestershire’s economy, according to a new study.

Worcestershire County Cricket Club generates £7.3 million across the West Midlands through the knock-on effects of spectators’ spending, employment and trade.

Report author Chris Mortimer spent eight months last year studying how much the club is worth to the city and region. David Leatherdale, commercial director, said the study laid out how the club, which plays in the LV= County Championship, was “more than just a local cricket club”.

The report says a staggering £2.1 million is spent by spectators coming to watch professional cricket at the New Road ground every year, based on 450 surveys of fans watching championship, limited overs and Twenty20 cricket last year.

Mr Leatherdale said: “It’s been a tough time the last couple of years since the floods but we feel we’re more than just a local cricket club.

“We know how we fare as a business, we know our turnover, but we didn’t have any figures to back our inkling that we have a bigger effect in the county and region in terms of providing employment and spending.”

He said the figures, together with the development of the ground, would answer some calls for the cricket club to move outside of the city.

“Our location is a real coup,” he said. “The city centre is just a five-minute walk from the ground.”

Mr Mortimer, of Tiger Solutions Ltd and the Warwick Business School, carried out his research with the club’s blessing as part of his masters degree, against the backdrop of the 2007 floods and the club’s worst performance for 81 years in county cricket last year.

“The report shows the club is a strong contributor to the local economy,” he said.

Mr Mortimer had access to the 2007/08 accounts, showing the club paid out nearly £1.8 million in pre-tax wages to the staff living in the region. £1.2 million of which stayed in the city.

The findings also showed the club does £500,000 worth of trade with Worcester-based suppliers – a third of the club’s spend.

Just nine per cent of WCCC’s supplier spending went outside the West Midlands.

The club also created 144 jobs in the region in the same year, on top of WCCC’s own payroll.

“It is an important time at the club with them re-developing the facilities – the Graeme Hick pavilion, and new hotel – and with what is happening on the pitch,” said Mr Mortimer.