Npower has reported that preliminary figures from the South African government have revealed that the staging of the World Cup brought an estimated boost to the economy of R93bn (£8bn).
These figures strongly support the business case for backing the bid to get the world’s biggest football tournament to England in 2018 according to npower, an official supporter of the England 2018 FIFA World Cup.
A poll conducted by the energy company revealed that more than 82% of bosses believe a World Cup in England would be great for business, 55% say it will deliver major financial benefit, and 63% say it would boost morale.
With the FIFA delegation set to visit each potential host city in August, npower is now calling on the business community to pledge their support for a World Cup in England in 2018. FIFA makes its decision on the host nation for 2018 in December 2010.
Kevin Peake, marketing director at npower, commented: "FA calculations suggest that the World Cup could bring as much as £3.2 billion to the economy, and the figures coming out of South Africa so far, although preliminary, show the economic boost a country can receive by staging this tournament.
"What we need now is for everyone to get behind the 2018 bid and show their support to host the World Cup in England in eight years time. There isn’t much time left to pledge support as the host nation will be decided this December, so it's important businesses back the bid now, rather than later."
Kevin Peake continued: "The opportunity to bring the tournament to England would be fantastic. Businesses of all sizes across the country would benefit and many of these will be the small businesses located around the host grounds - the food stalls, pubs, cafes and suppliers to the grounds.
"As the official supporters of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Bid, we already working with small businesses in the host cities to highlight the important role they will play and also support them with energy efficiency advice. We hope this will help them reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs."
England 2018 Chief Executive, Andy Anson said: "Businesses small and large are essential in staging a successful event and we hope the business community will get behind us and back the bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018."
About npower:
npower is one of the top energy suppliers to the UK business market, serving over 238,000 small to medium sized enterprise sites and around 17,000 industrial and commercial customers, with over 100,000 sites
npower is dedicated to helping UK businesses use energy more efficiently and therefore spend less money on their bills. The company aims to have a positive impact on the communities it serves and reduce its customers' carbon footprint whilst always improving service to customers.
npower supplies green energy to Wembley Stadium and the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.
npower specialises in risk management solutions, including market-leading flexible energy purchasing, energy efficiency, and broader energy management functions, tailored to every size of business.
npower is committed to helping its small business customers to improve their energy efficiency. Since 2006 the ‘e3’ campaign (standing for energy, efficiency, environment) has offered business customers advice and guidance on reducing energy consumption. New business customers receive an energy monitor designed to improve their consumption a
Amy Rynn, npower, Oak House, Bridgwater Road, Worcester, WR4 9FP, 0845 070 2807, www.npower.com
