Brit Awards study estimates £5m in additional Manchester spending

The Brit Awards said on 1 October that an impact study estimated its first Manchester ceremony and related events generated £5m in net additional spending in the city. The 2026 awards took place at Co-op Live on 28 February, moving the ceremony outside London for the first time in its nearly five-decade history. The figure matters to Manchester because it measures spending the study says would otherwise not have occurred locally, rather than the event’s total receipts.

AMION Consulting conducted the economic and social impact assessment, which the awards organisation describes as independent. Its headline spending estimate divides into £3.6m from visitors and £1.4m from organisers and partners. BBC News separately reported the findings and the response from Greater Manchester’s mayor.

What the £5m Manchester estimate counts

According to the Brit Awards’ account of the study, the economic assessment focused on expenditure retained in Manchester that would not otherwise have taken place there. Visitor spending was assessed using audience survey evidence covering accommodation, food and drink, shopping, local transport and leisure. The organiser and partner category included production, travel, accommodation and delivery costs where that spending was retained locally.

The assessment excluded ticket income. It also adjusted for displacement: the possibility that some people attending the awards might otherwise have spent money on another event or activity in Manchester. Spending outside the city and Greater Manchester area was removed from the assessment. Those choices are central to understanding the £5m figure as an estimate of additional local expenditure, rather than all money associated with the awards.

Jobs, added value and the wider events programme

The study also estimated £3.45m in gross value added and 3,099 one-week temporary jobs for Manchester-based workers, equivalent to 15,497 days of employment. The employment figure describes short periods of work associated with the event; it should be read with that one-week qualification, rather than as a count of permanent positions.

The ceremony was part of a wider programme. The Brit Awards listed Brit Awards Week gigs, Fringe Lab education days, Manchester Welcomes events, an art trail, industry networking and community activities among the events around the show. Its release said 24,912 people attended the awards ceremony and wider events combined. Of those, 12,850, or 52%, attended events in the wider programme.

Audience responses formed another part of the assessment. The study reported that 92% of ceremony attendees rated their experience excellent or good, as did 94% of attendees at wider Brit Awards events. These are measures of reported experience among attendees; they do not by themselves establish the amount of additional spending in the city.

How the study valued social impact

Separately, the study put the event’s monetised social impact at £11.2m. The Brit Awards said this assessment considered cultural participation, civic pride, digital engagement and Manchester’s profile as a destination for major events. Its explanation says the approach assigns a monetary value to benefits such as wellbeing from attending events and taking part in community activity, using recognised national guidance.

That £11.2m is a valuation of estimated social benefits, not a second measure of cash spent in Manchester. Nor should it be added to the £5m expenditure estimate as though both figures described the same kind of transaction. The announcement also points to benefits that it says are not captured in the headline numbers, including local partnerships, education and careers activity, and the visibility of Manchester’s music scene.

What Manchester leaders said, and what comes next

Greater Manchester mayor Bev Craig called bringing the awards to the city a ‘massive moment’. In comments carried by the Brit Awards and BBC News, she said events of this kind bring money into the economy, support culture and hospitality, and create opportunities for local people. Manchester City Council leader Garry Bridges said the partnership’s social and economic reach extended into communities beyond the awards show itself.

Brit Awards Committee chair Stacey Tang said the move was intended to spotlight talent and creative communities across the UK and widen participation. BPI chief executive Jo Twist said the reported economic, social and cultural returns showed the value of taking major cultural events beyond London. These are responses from the event’s organisers and local leaders to the study’s findings, rather than separate measurements of its impact.

The Brit Awards said the next ceremony is scheduled for 27 February 2027 at Co-op Live. Its published account establishes what the 2026 study estimated and how its main categories were defined. A full report with the detailed calculations would be needed to assess the assumptions behind the figures more closely.