Last month,
Alstom — a global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, revealed the scale of its economic impact on the UK and Ireland with the publication of its
2023 Economic Impact Report. This followed the 200th anniversary of the world’s first purpose-built locomotive works in Newcastle, Robert Stephenson and Company, to which Alstom can trace its roots. Founded in the UK in 1823, it was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines, and since 1989 it has belonged to Alstom.
According to the economic-impact report by
EY, Alstom has supported a contribution of nearly £1 billion to UK and Ireland GDP in the financial year 2022/23. The report also reveals that the train manufacturer works with 1,144 UK and Ireland suppliers, supports over 17,000 jobs, and plays a central role in the UK’s rail industry, delivering some of the biggest rail programmes in the country from its headquarters in Derby and its additional 36 locations around the UK and Ireland.
Nick Crossfield, managing director of Alstom UK & Ireland, said: “This report highlights the value that Alstom provides to the UK and Irish economies. With a heritage of 200 years in the UK, we continue to support thousands of jobs across the country, with our 37 sites the home of some of the UK’s biggest and best-known train manufacturing and refurbishment projects, including the Elizabeth line, HS2 and the iconic West Coast Pendolino fleet.
“Looking to the future, within the current financial period we are due to: finish delivering the Aventra order book, totalling over 2,600 carriages; continue to deliver the two largest major signalling frameworks for Network Rail in Control Period 6; continue to support a large portion of the UK’s installed train fleet; and prepare for the manufacture of 54 HS2 trains, which will roll out of our Derby factory. A true demonstration of Alstom’s continued economic contribution to the UK and Ireland.”
EY’s analysis of Alstom’s activity in the UK and Ireland in financial year 2022/23 found that Alstom has 6,280 employees, many of them in high-value engineering and manufacturing roles, and that it supports a further 10,981 ‘indirect and induced’ jobs through the supply chain. Moreover, 1,144 of its 1,470 suppliers are based in the UK and Ireland, and that over £818 million was spent with these UK and Ireland suppliers, representing 68% of total procurement spend in the period.