Transport for London (TfL) has revealed analysis highlighting its “UK-wide” financial affect, because it requires £500m in capital funding for 2024/25.
A brand new report by world engineering agency Hatch says that in 2022/23, the London transport physique spent £6.5bn within the UK with greater than 2,000 suppliers.
This supported £5.9bn in gross worth added and greater than 100,000 jobs, based on the analysis.
Seventy per cent (£4.6bn) of TfL’s whole spending on suppliers was in London – with 699 totally different corporations.
However two-thirds (66 per cent) of the transport physique’s suppliers had been primarily based exterior of London, and about half its suppliers had been SME companies.
TfL stated the analysis illustrates that its funding has “large profit for its UK-wide provide chain”.
“This in flip delivers wider advantages for the financial system of the native areas the place the suppliers are situated, supporting jobs and financial progress throughout the nation,” it added.
TfL’s largest expenditure exterior of London was within the North West, the place it spent £540m with 155 suppliers.
This was primarily on “land transport companies and transport companies through pipelines (excluding rail transport), building and warehousing and assist actions for transportation sectors”, based on the analysis.
The report says this funding supported a complete of 8,870 full-time jobs within the area, together with 4,870 as a direct results of its spending.
TfL’s North West suppliers embrace Holbro Engineering in Fleetwood, Lancashire, which offers precision-machined refurbished elements for underground trains.
The areas with the next-highest spending on suppliers had been the South East (£370m), the South West (£320m) and the North East (£270m).
The native authority space with the most important TfL spending exterior of London was Stockport, the place the physique spent £300m with eight suppliers.
The analysis is predicated on TfL’s procurement database, supplemented with different info similar to an in-house survey of senior TfL workers.
It comes because the transport physique is asking the federal government for £500m in capital funding for 2024/25, which it says would assist essential initiatives that will “enhance the UK financial system”.
These embrace finishing a serious signalling improve on the Metropolitan and District underground strains. TfL additionally needs capital assist to assist ship “essential street renewal schemes” on the A40 Westway and the Blackwall Tunnel.
The transport physique’s present funding settlement involves an finish in March 2024.
London mayor Sadiq Khan stated: “London is the engine room of the UK, and this analysis demonstrates simply how nice TfL’s affect on the broader UK financial system is, but in addition how a lot London wants the experience from across the nation that isn’t obtainable in our capital.
“TfL’s funding has supported small companies, created hundreds of recent jobs and introduced in billions of kilos for the UK financial system. To proceed driving this progress we now have thrilling plans to additional enhance London’s transport infrastructure, however this may’t occur with out the correct funding deal in place. I’m urging the federal government to work with us on a long-term funding deal in order that we are able to proceed to construct a greater, extra affluent London and nation for everybody.”
London transport commissioner Andy Lord stated: “The report makes clear that it’s fallacious to view our transport community via a London-centric lens – nothing could be attainable with out the facility and innovation of UK business as an entire.”
