New study reveals Blenheim Palace’s £175M Economic Impact
New figures from Oxford Brookes Business School have revealed that last year saw Blenheim Palace make a sizable £175m impact on the UK economy – a 28% year-on-year growth, led by a post-Covid bounceback.
The Economic Impact Study 2022-2023 also revealed a £63m impact from the UNESCO World Heritage Sites 857,052 visitors, in terms of spending at surrounding businesses (up 21%).
Total economic impact comprises the direct, indirect and induced impact that Blenheim Palace has on the UK economy, in terms of its contribution to GDP and jobs.
Other study findings included:
- As well as 560 directly employed members of staff at Blenheim Palace and Estate, the total number of jobs supported in the wider economy is 3,435, an annual increase of 29%
- The overall economic impact figure of £175m includes £32m from Blenheim Palace’s Christmas and Halloween events, which together supported 636 jobs
- Economic growth was boosted by a significant increase in the heritage attraction’s spending on procurement, up 58% to £56m, with 1,147 jobs being supported through the services and supplies it purchases
- The number of apprentices employed by Blenheim Palace rose by 4% to 28
Dominic Hare, CEO of Blenheim Palace, commented: “We are delighted that jobs supported outside of Blenheim have grown even faster than our economic contribution, which shows the importance of Blenheim to our flourishing local economy.
“The numbers above also reflect big capital investments during the year by Blenheim and its partners, building the likes of Adventure Play and the Blenheim Palace Retreat Lodges. Both opened after the period measured in this study, but should drive great future benefit.”
ENDS
For more information, contact Jon Perks at Cab Campaign – estate@cabcampaign.co.uk
About Blenheim Palace
Home to the Dukes of Marlborough since 1705, Blenheim Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
Set in over 2,000 acres of ‘Capability’ Brown landscaped parkland and designed by
Vanbrugh in the Baroque style, it was financed by Queen Anne, on behalf of a grateful nation, following the first Duke of Marlborough’s triumph over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession.
Today it houses one of the most important and extensive collections in Europe, which includes portraits, furniture, sculpture and tapestries.
Blenheim Palace is also the birthplace of one of Britain’s most famous leaders, Sir Winston Churchill, and it was his father who described the vista on entering the Estate from the village of Woodstock as the ‘finest view in England’.
