Sport is vital to the economy of the Northwest. As a business sector, it employs nearly 100,000 people and generates a turnover of £6.5 billion. The region has an excellent sporting infrastructure, a strong network of professional sport clubs and a stunning environment for outdoor adventure.

A new framework for the development of the sport business sector over the next ten years was launched last week by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).

In producing this groundbreaking strategy, the NWDA worked closely with leading sport and leisure consultants, Knight Kavanagh & Page. KKP conducted a comprehensive analysis of the sports sector; covering, for example, the number of sports related companies and jobs, their geographic distribution throughout the region and change over the previous ten years. Via a mix of interviews, focus groups, surveys and data analysis KKP delivered:

• A definition and visualisation of the sector and its constituent elements. 
• Analysis of data from a range of sources to cover data on employees and companies for all 43 local authorities, five county and regional levels for each of the previous ten years. 
• A review of data on major events, professional clubs covering their turnover, attendance and supply chains; specialist materials used for playing pitches, running tracks, outdoor clothing and sports footwear and outdoor sports including new adrenaline sports.

The resulting strategy focuses on four key areas that offer the greatest potential for economic growth in the Northwest, including:

• Supporting the growth of new and existing sport businesses including sport venues, professional sport clubs and specialist businesses supplying the sector.
• Increasing innovation to improve product development, particularly within the manufacture of advanced flexible materials.
• Promoting activity which levers investment into the region, including the outdoor adventure market.
• Maximising the economic, social and health benefits of sport to individuals and communities across the Northwest.

Download a copy of the NWDA Sport Sector Strategy  

Review of all sectors in the Northwest economy

In a parallel project to the Northwest Sport Sector Strategy, KKP was commissioned by the NWDA to produce detailed profiles for of each of the region's 19 business sectors and groups. These analysed and mapped the economic structure for each of its 43 local authorities, the number of employees and companies, trends over the past decade and the differences between evaluating data based on head office locations and the places where people actually work. The findings, presented at the NWDA's 2008 annual conference, were also used to support the RS2010 strategy.

Emma Charnock, Information Manager at the NWDA said, ‘KKP's review has provided an entirely new level of detail in our analysis of data for the different sectors which comprise the regional economy and will form a key aspect of the forthcoming review of the Regional Strategy.'

Download the profiles 

John Eady, KKP's Chief Executive said,

"In the current climate with increasing financial pressures, a detailed understanding of sport's contribution to the local economic picture will help to maintain funding in the sector, identify how it can most effectively catalyse local regeneration, provide a route into employment across a wide range of business activities and justify future investment."