A study commissioned by SSE and conducted by professional services firm PwC, has found that the energy company contributed £8.8bn to the UK economy and supported around 106,000 jobs in the UK during the financial year 2014/15.
SSE contributed £1.47bn to the Scottish economy and supported 17,730 jobs. Over the last four years, the energy company has contributed £5.5bn to the Scottish economy (in FY15 prices).
In a first for a UK company, SSE has integrated its economic impact within its annual financial results, such is its desire to be transparent about its wider impact and belief that a company’s contribution to the economy and society is about more than its financial results.
The latest economic impact assessment is the third of its kind carried out by PwC to assess SSE’s economic contribution.
Over the past three years, based on data from SSE and statistics authorities such as the UK’s Office for National Statistics, PwC has used economic modelling to estimate that SSE has contributed £27.4bn to the UK economy. Each year it has supported, on average, 110,000 jobs.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive of SSE, said: “As a responsible company, SSE is proud to have contributed £8.8bn to the UK economy last year which equates to around 0.6% of total UK GDP.
“For the first time we are including our economic impact within our main set of year-end financial results because SSE’s impact on the economy is about much more than its financial results, it’s about our overall contribution to the economy and jobs too.
“In the coming years, SSE is committed to investing around £1.5-1.7bn a year, equivalent to £4m a day, so I’m delighted the economic impact of our work is being fully assessed and included in our full year results for all to see.”
The report examines the direct contribution of energy company SSE to UK employment and GDP. It also considers the indirect economic impact of SSE’s supply chain spending and the induced economic impact generated by employee spending.