EY Report

How West Ham contribute to local economy

26 Jan 2022

Any Old Irons, Mark Noble, West Ham United

EY report highlights how the Hammers play an important role in supporting local jobs, supply chains and community

The new EY report into the economic and social benefits of Premier League football looks at the significant impact that clubs have within their local communities.

The report highlights the example of West Ham United, which contributed £300million in GVA* to the club's local economy of London and Essex, as well as supporting 3,300 local and regional jobs.

* Gross Value Added is a measure of economic activity which can be viewed as the incremental contribution to Gross Domestic Product

One year of West Ham's Players' Project

"Through its role as a major employer, spending with local businesses in its supply chain, and the thousands of visitors it attracts over the course of the season, the club supports wide-ranging economic impacts," the report says.

That economic benefit generated by West Ham comes through a variety of means: through the employment of staff, 45 per cent of whom live locally; supply chain spending of which almost half is sourced from local suppliers and the away fans visiting the London Stadium bringing additional spending into the local economy.

But the economic benefits West Ham deliver in the local area are also less obvious.

The club's Players' Project, launched in 2018, features the club's players at various levels giving more than 300 hours of community time to support the West Ham United Foundation's 30 programmes that span health, education, community initiatives and football development.

Working directly with over 2,000 people from the local area, the Project has delivered, for example, £1.4m of annual savings to the NHS through its diabetes prevention programme.