Ashes battle set to bring £10m to Yorkshire

BUSINESSES across the region could be in line for a £10m windfall when the Fourth Ashes Test at Headingley Carnegie begins on Friday.

Early estimates from Cardiff, which hosted the first Test, were that the match produced £10m for businesses in and around the Test venue and city.

Welcome to Yorkshire and Yorkshire County Cricket Club expect Leeds to match or exceed that £10m projection when the Test begins in Leeds tomorrow.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “The Fourth Test will bring a welcome boost to local businesses as hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world eat, sleep and drink in Leeds and the surrounding areas.

“We estimate it could provide a £10m injection to the city so the little urn is going to mean a great deal to Leeds’ traders and businesses.”

Meanwhile, an 11-day Ashes Festival campaign, believed to be the biggest and most high profile of any of the five England-Australia cricket matches, is currently running in Leeds ahead part of the fourth Test at Headingley.

Organised by sport and leisure marketing agency Banana Kick, the aim of the campaign, which brings together Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC), Marketing Leeds, Welcome to Yorkshire and Leeds Metropolitan University, is to make the sell-out Test inclusive to as many people and businesses in the region as possible.

‘The Ashes Festival in Leeds’ is a series of events and activities planned in Leeds and Headingley ranging from an Ashes Exhibition at Leeds City Museum, a lecture by Christopher Martin Jenkins, an Ashes Lunch with Geoffrey Boycott and Jonathan Agnew, an Eve of Test Dinner with Clive James and Mike Gatting, a book launch, and a business leaders’ event.

One of the biggest activities is a six-day Cricket in the Square event which will see Millennium Square in the heart of the city transformed into an urban cricket festival of fun for youngsters and adults alike.

Gary McCall, Director of Banana Kick, said: “The Ashes represents a massive opportunity for a city like Leeds and the wider regional community as the eyes of our nation, and those of our Australian friends, will be on Leeds and Headingley.”

Stewart Regan, Chief Executive of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, said: “Banana Kick has played a key role in bringing the Ashes Festival in Leeds to life both creatively and in the delivery of a varied range of activities and communication.” 

Welcome to Yorkshire is the official tourism agency for Yorkshire and the Humber region.