The stunning Tour de France brought a welcome £4m boost to the economy of Kirklees.
Shops, hotels, restaurants, bars and other firms shared the bounty when the world’s best-known cycle race hit the streets of Huddersfield on July 6.
And the event brought a staggering 250,000 people out on to the streets of Huddersfield and the Holme Valley - more than half the population of Kirklees.
The council spent a little over £620,000 in staging the race which means that for every £1 spent by the authority, £6 came back into the local economy.
Details were released as an official report showed that 3.3 million spectators watched the Tour de France when it came to Yorkshire.
And experts say Grand Depart generated more than £102 million of economic benefit for Yorkshire.
The three Stages in Britain cost £27 million to stage: £11 million came from host local authorities, £10 million from the Government through UK Sport and £6 million from Transport for London. It cost £4 million to host the event, paid to the Amaury Sport Organisation.
Leader of Kirklees Council, Clr David Sheard said: “The release of this report just goes to show that the region’s investment in bringing the Tour de France to Yorkshire was a shrewd move, and has generated a huge economic return not only for Yorkshire, but also for us here in Kirklees.”
“We expect a detailed report of the impact in Kirklees to follow shortly. But, in the meantime, and based on the figures in this report, our own outline calculations indicate that the event generated almost £4m in Kirklees – nearly £2m more than the target we set ourselves.”
The council revealed that over 300 businesses had benefited directly from the event: over 1000 camping pitches were sold; local hotels, B&B’s and self-catering cottages enjoyed occupancy levels in excess of 80%; and over 150 food and drink traders took part in various events around the district.
More difficult to pinpoint was the indirect benefit to other Kirklees businesses, but who also benefited, including existing food suppliers and supermarkets, pubs and restaurants, marquee and toilet suppliers, sound vision and stage companies; and even scaffolders, who were called on to build impromptu grandstands for residents and businesses.
In addition, Kirklees also expects to reap the long term benefits of encouraging more people to cycle and be active, and the knock-on effects which residents’ improving health can have on the economy generally.
To stage the event, Kirklees expenses included: route preparation: £200,000; traffic management: £115,397; contribution to the bid and preparatory costs: £249,000; direct costs: £99,940; route support: £121,123.
Clr Sheard added: “I’m very proud that we played our part in hosting the world’s largest free sporting event - the 250,000 people who turned up to watch from the Kirklees leg of the route completely surpassed our expectations. I hope we managed to show the world what a great place it is to invest, encouraging new firms to set up in Yorkshire, especially Kirklees.”
Calderdale Council’s Director of Communities and Support Services, Robin Tuddenham, said: “The Tour de France was an amazing opportunity to showcase Calderdale to the world. Millions of people saw its beauty on television, loved it and want to visit.
“We have requested specific information on the economic impact for Calderdale as part of the wider report on the whole event and we expect this analysis to be available shortly and are optimistic it will exceed our expectations for this amazing weekend.”
Stage Two saw the race go through Calderdale, Huddersfield, Holmfirth and Holme Moss, the latter where some 60,000 spectators watched the action.
Tour by numbers
19 authorities co-ordinated traffic regulations across 300 miles of route, with 30,000 traffic cones, 5,000 road signs and 100 kilometres of barriers needed.
94% of residents who watched Stage 2 strongly agreed that the event had been good for the local area.
243,000 people passed through Leeds Station on Saturday July 5, an increase of around 50% on the previous week. By comparison, the Saturday before Christmas sees 175,000 travel through the station.
58% of businesses thought Yorkshire should hold more events; 74% said it enhanced the image of the region.
8,000 volunteered as Tourmakers.
100-day Yorkshire Festival saw St George’s Square turned into a farm and Huddersfield host Hypervelocity, a five-day cultural festival.
