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Small businesses set for 2018 boost
Small businesses to score biggest victory should England win vote to stage 2018 Word Cup
Small business will receive a major boost should England win the race to stage the 2018 World Cup, according to statistics from a new survey.
FIFA is due to announce the nations to host the 2018 and 2022 tournaments on December 2, with England in the running to stage the first of those.
Energy company nPower polled 1,000 UK businesses to see how many are already looking ahead to a potential international event taking place on their doorstep in under eight years, and to see how they believe it will affect their business.
Of those polled, 17 per cent said they’d expect to see an increase in trade or sales, while one in 25 said they’d need to take on extra staff to handle the increase in business.
Some, one in 10, said they’d introduce new products or services should the 2018 World Cup be staged in England, or expand their business in other ways.
Karen Brady, 2018 bid advisory board member and West Ham vice-chairman, launched the results of the research, and said: "Having worked in football for many years, I am aware of how much it would mean to the public to host a World Cup in England.
“The UK economy would also prosper, particularly the small businesses that would get a huge and welcome boost if thousands of travelling football fans were coming through their doors. In fact, this research from npower revealed that a third of businesses believed it would be the smaller companies that would see the biggest benefit."
Kevin Peake, marketing director at npower, added: "npower is a proud supporter of the England 2018 bid, and as we enter the final crucial two weeks before decision day, it is clear that there is a huge amount of support from small businesses.”
