Conservatives conference worth £20 million to Manchester economy
The Conservative Party conference in Manchester this week will generate £20 million in local economy impact according to the Manchester Convention Bureau.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Cabinet, Conservative MPs, and around 10,000 party delegates and lobbyists will meet at Manchester Central from Sunday 1 to Wednesday 4 October.
Though the conference has been marred by protests and accusations of harassment of delegates in the eight occasions the party has held its conference in Manchester since 2009 it will return to Manchester again in 2025 as part of its current rotation with Birmingham as a host city, which will continue to 2026.
As well as the obvious impact to the Midland Hotel and the Manchester Central exhibition space, fringe events in other hotels provide a lift to the local visitor economy.
Sheona Southern
Sheona Southern, Managing Director of Marketing Manchester, the organisation that leads on the visitor economy in Greater Manchester and incorporates the Manchester Convention Bureau and Sports Bidding Unit, said: “We are pleased to welcome the Conservative Party Conference back to Manchester this week.
“The event is a fantastic opportunity for the city, not just in terms of the economic impact of visitor spend, but also in demonstrating Manchester’s strengths as a comprehensive conference destination, and Greater Manchester’s political significance.
“There are a lot of important national conversations to be had next week that affect Greater Manchester, so we are looking forward to a productive conference, and to receiving some clear assurances about how the party will work with Greater Manchester and other city-regions across the north of England going into the final year of this Parliament.”
Greg Hands MP, Conservative Party Chairman, added: “I’m thrilled to be opening Conservative Party Conference in Manchester this week. With £20 million expected to be generated for the economy of this great City, Manchester will be even more in the national and international spotlight. This is going to be a fantastic event for all our members, MPs, and visitors, and I look forward to seeing everyone there.”
Joanne Roney OBE, Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, added: “Manchester is experienced at holding large events, from major sporting occasions to concerts and high-profile conferences such as this one. We have well-developed and strong partnerships across the city to ensure that events run smoothly, and delegates enjoy both the event and the city.
“Large events such as this stimulate hotels, restaurants, bars and other attractions and help support and create jobs for Manchester people – giving a multi-million-pound boost for our economy.”
Shaun Hinds, chief executive of Manchester Central, added: “Business conferences and exhibitions are an integral part of the variety of events we host at Manchester Central and equate to a significant proportion of the economic contribution that the wider event sector brings into the UK.
“As a business that thrives on supporting the Greater Manchester community, we are always proud to see that the events hosted at our venue have such a positive impact on the hospitality sector across the city-region.”
The conference, meetings, and events sector – also known as the business tourism sector – generated £862m for the Greater Manchester economy in 2017 and is estimated to support 22,000 direct jobs within Greater Manchester, and 35,100 jobs when including indirect jobs in the supply chain.
Greater Manchester Police at conference venue
Greater Manchester Police said they are hopeful the planned protests will pass off smoothly. Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes, said: “This is a major event for the city and over the last twelve months, our officers have been preparing to welcome the thousands of visitors and delegates coming to enjoy the conference.
“GMP and partners are highly experienced in running the large-scale security operations required to manage events such as this and have hosted the Conservative Party Conference many times over the years to great success.
“The multi-agency response includes Greater Manchester Police and dedicated partners from Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester, Manchester Central Convention Centre, other blue light services, colleagues from other police forces and the military.
“As part of Operation Protector, you will see additional officers carrying out high visibility patrols in the lead up to and during the conference. We will also have a number of armed officers out on patrol.
“As always we are expecting a number of peaceful demonstrations to take place over the course of the event and are working closely with conference organisers and partners to ensure demonstrations take place with minimal disruption to the wider public.
“GMP will always seek to facilitate the right to peacefully protest, we will not stand for any incidents of intimidation or abuse, and officers will take swift, appropriate action against anyone breaking the law.”
