Economic Impact
NNL produces economic benefits both locally and nationally, which we have categorised into national GVA and employment; regional GVA and employment; skills development and investment in R&D.
These impacts are for the 2021-22 Financial Year (FY22).
£220m
Total GVA contribution
95
Employees on Early Career Schemes
£164m
Revenue and investment to support R&D and scientific activities
2,458
Jobs supported
156
PhDs and PDRAs sponsored
£7bn
UK taxpayer savings through collaboration with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
£2m
Investment in staff training
£16bn
Impact of nuclear sector, which NNL supports
GVA and Employment
In FY2022 NNL contributed approximately £200m to the UK economy. As we can see in Figure 1, this is made up of a direct impact from business operations of £96m, an indirect impact from supply chain spending of £43m, and an induced impact arising from employee consumption of £62m. For every £100 directly supported by NNL through its own operations, £211 is contributed to the economy.
Figure 1: NNL’s total contribution to GVA
Figure 2: Indirect GVA contribution by sector
A large proportion of the value created through NNL’s activities spills over to its UK supply chain. We break down NNL’s indirect contribution at a sectoral level in Figure 2. The largest indirect contribution to GVA is made in the sectors that form the largest component of NNL’s supply chain spending, with Scientific Research and Development and Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities having an indirect GVA impact of £7m each. We can see that NNL’s impact is well distributed across sectors, with a large portion (£14m) in the Other category, which includes all sectors not in the top ten. This reflects the broad range of inputs required and how the laboratory’s spending with suppliers flows down the supply chain to produce benefits for the whole economy and population.
In FY2022, NNL supported 2,458 (FTE) jobs across the UK economy. As we can see in Figure 3, the total is made up of 1,118 jobs direct jobs across NNL’s laboratories, research sites and head office, 682 jobs through supply chain spending, and 658 jobs through the spending of NNL’s employees and suppliers’ employees in the economy. NNL’s employment contribution in the UK is depicted in Figure 3
Figure 3: NNL’s employment contribution
Figure 4: Indirect employment contribution by sector
We can see NNL’s indirect contribution to FTE employment in each sector of the economy in Figure 4. Just over 50% of the employment impact from NNL’s supply chain spend falls within the top four sectors: Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities; Security and Investigation Activities; Activities of Head Office and Management Consultancy Activities; and Scientific Research and Development. Once again, a large portion of the impact (169 jobs) falls within a variety of sectors that are outside the top ten, underscoring how NNL’s activities benefit the whole economy.