npower and Karren Brady urge small businesses to back England's bid

npower has launched new research which shows that 73% of small businesses in the 'football front line' - the chippies, bars, hotels and pubs in the hospitality trade - believe the tournament would result in a significant increase in sales.

2018 bid advisory board member, West Ham vice-chairman and star of The Apprentice, Karren Brady launched the new research from npower, an official England 2018 world cup bid supporter.

With just over two weeks to go until FIFA makes its decision on who will host the 2018 World Cup, the research of 1000 businesses by npower also showed that many are already thinking ahead to 2018 and across all sectors, one in 25 predict they would have to take on additional staff to cope with demand, expecting to see a 17% increase in trade or sales on average.

In fact one in 12 businesses in the hospitality sector, and one in 14 in the travel, tourism and leisure sectors would start to plan for how they could take advantage of the World Cup on home soil straight after FIFA makes its decision on 2 December. One in six businesses in the hospitality sector would start their planning in 2013 - five years before the tournament starts.

One in 10 businesses also said they would introduce new products or services or would consider expanding their business to capitalise on the tournament being on home soil. This rises to a significant one in three in the hospitality sector and one in five in the travel, tourism and leisure sectors.

As a result of these findings, Karren Brady is urging people to back the bid to show their support for the entrepreneurs and small business owners that would benefit from the predicted £3bn boost to the economy the World Cup would bring.

Brady commented: "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 (29%) believed it would be the smaller companies that would see the biggest benefit."

The research showed that overall, one in six small businesses believe a World Cup in England in 2018 would have a positive impact on their company. Of these, over half (54%) believe that hosting the World Cup would increase trade and 55% believe it would provide a welcome boost to employee morale.

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. We have already been helping some of the these businesses in the host cities get in shape for the tournament by providing them energy efficiency audits and advice, and it's clear to see that many would take advantage of the opportunities a World Cup in England would bring."

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 proud sponsor of the npower Football League, including the npower Championship, npower League 1 and npower League 2.

npower is dedicated to helping UK businesses use energy more efficiently and therefore spend less money on their bills.  It aims to have a positive impact on the communities it serves and reduce its customers' carbon footprint whilst always improving its service to its customers.

PR Contact:
Nicholas McHugh
npower press office
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