bp’s impact on the UK economy in 2018
bp’s contribution to the UK economy report sets out to quantify the impact of our business in more detail. We hope it will be of use in understanding how a large business plays its part in creating wealth and adding value to the national economy
bp’s impact has remained consistently strong over time
Between 2014 and 2018, bp worked with an average of 800 UK suppliers of capital goods and 3,150 UK suppliers of goods and services to generate an average yearly contribution of:
- £9.7 billion to UK GDP
- 128,000 jobs
- £4.2 billion in UK taxes paid or collected.
The combined productivity of bp’s employees and supply chain increased by 26% between 2014 and 2018, helping increase bp’s gross value added to the UK economy by 18% over that period.
2018 economic impact highlights
- bp supported an estimated £10.3 billion gross value added contribution to the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 123,120 UK jobs in 2018.
- Of this total, bp’s direct UK operations – such as oil and gas fields, petrochemical plants, fuels retailing facilities and major offices – created a £4.8 billion gross value added contribution to UK GDP and employed 15,835 people.
- An estimated 0.5% of UK GDP in 2018 was in some way reliant on bp’s activities – whether directly, indirectly, or through BP’s capital expenditure. That is £1 in every £183 of GDP created in the UK during the year.
- bp spent a total of £6.4 billion with UK suppliers:
- Over £4.5 billion on non-capital goods and services from 2,620 suppliers, supporting an estimated £3.9 billion indirect contribution to GDP and 78,000 jobs.
- Almost £1.9 billion spent on capital goods from 630 suppliers, supporting an estimated £1.7 billion gross value added contribution to GDP and 29,000 jobs.
- bp’s direct activity, as well as its operational and capital expenditures with UK suppliers, is estimated to have supported 1 in every 263 jobs in the UK in 2018, or 0.4% of all employment in the country.
- bp spent a further £1.4 billion with UK-registered businesses operating overseas.
- bp ventures invested a total of over £55 million in 11 businesses across the UK, aligned with its Upstream, Downstream and Alternative Energy interests.
- Investment increased by £37 million over the period 2014-2018.
- Around 40% of bp’s global R&D expenditure in 2018 was on work conducted in the UK.
- bp paid more than £1.8 billion in dividends to UK-based shareholders in 2018.
- In 2018, bp paid or collected £2.8 billion in UK taxes. That is equivalent to £1 for every £222 paid to HMRC in 2018, or 0.45% of all tax receipts.
Channels through which bp contributes to the UK economy
bp’s impact on the UK economy by sector
Ten UK industrial sectors receiving the largest amount of bp’s UK operational procurement spend in 2018
£ billion
Source: Oxford Economics
bp’s impact on the UK's regional economy
Procurement impact and supplier diversification
bp has relationships with a diverse range of UK suppliers, from architectural and engineering services to water transport.
bp’s 2,620 UK suppliers of goods and services in 2018 are distributed throughout the UK, receiving a total of over £4.5 billion.
Some 27% of them were located in London, 21% in the South East, 11% in Scotland and 10% in the Midlands.
In 2018, bp spent almost £1.9 billion on capital goods from around 630 UK suppliers. Of these, 18% were in Scotland, 20% were in the South East and another 20% were in London.
In addition, around £1.4 billion was spent by bp with UK-registered businesses operating abroad.
Source: bp, based on invoice location
Employment impact
123,120 British jobs were supported by bp in 2018, with direct UK operations creating £4.6 billion gross value added contribution to UK GDP and employing 15,835 people.
The indirect impact of bp procurement of goods and services and capital expenditure supported an estimated additional 107,285 people in the wider UK economy.
Overall, London, the South East and Scotland were the biggest jobs beneficiaries from bp’s direct and indirect impacts. bp supported employment equivalent to 1% of all employment in London, 0.7% in Scotland, and over 0.4% in the South East.
Source: bp, Oxford Economics, ONS
bp’s UK operating locations
Estimated geographic distribution of bp’s 2,620 UK suppliers of goods and services in 2018
Source: Oxford Economics
Estimated geographic distribution of bp’s 630 UK suppliers of capital goods in 2018
Source: Oxford Economics
Assets, pipelines and other sites in the UK
bp’s ongoing social contribution to the UK
Committed to UK arts, culture and education
bp continued to demonstrate a consistent commitment to UK communities through its support for schools, arts and culture, sport, community organizations and charities.
Building on its ground-breaking Enterprising Science educational research programme to understand how and why young people choose to study STEM subjects, bp extended its relationship with the Science Museum Group as the founding partner of its Academy of science engagement across the UK.
2019 marks the 30th anniversary of bp’s support for the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery – the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world.
Creating value in local communities
bp’s UK employees volunteered 22,500 hours and generated over £2 million of contributions to community organizations during 2018.
On average over the period 2014-2018, bp’s UK employees have volunteered 33,965 hours and generated over £2.5 million of contributions each year.
Find out more at bp.com/uk/bpinthecommunity.
About the report
This is the fifth anniversary update of the original report by Oxford Economics, BP’s impact on the UK economy, September 2015. This summary reflects the economic contribution for the calendar year 2018 and can be read alongside the previous reports for a year-on-year comparison. It also highlights the consistency of bp’s contribution to the UK economy over the previous five-year period.
Methodology
Find out more about the methodology used in performing this analysis.
Contacts, links and further information
- Press enquiries bppress@bp.com
- Government affairs enquiries UKGovernmentAffairs@uk.bp.com
- For further information bp.com/uk.
Disclaimer
bp disclaims any obligation to update this publication. Neither BP p.l.c., nor any of its subsidiaries, accepts liability for any inaccuracies or omissions or for any direct, indirect, special, consequential or other losses or damages of whatsoever kind in connection to this publication or any information contained in it.
Acknowledgement
bp would like to thank its partners in the production of this publication.