Huawei has claimed it boosted the UK economy by £1.7 billion through its economic activity in 2018, up six times since 2012.

According to an independent study by global advisory firm Oxford Economics, the company supports over 26,000 jobs either directly or through its supply chain – with the employment benefits stretching across all regions of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

As an international company, Huawei creates significant value in the UK each year. The company’s £1.7bn contribution in 2018 consisted of:

–          £287 million from Huawei’s own activities (‘direct value-added’)

–          £806 million contribution via UK businesses within Huawei’s supply chain (‘value added’)

–          An additional £598 million generated by the spending of the employees of Huawei and its suppliers’ (‘induced impact’)

Huawei 2019 UK Partner Summit

The independent study was launched at Huawei’s 2019 UK Partner Summit.  The theme for the summit, at One Great George Street Conference Centre in central London, was ‘Let’s Grow Together’.  Huawei took the opportunity to reiterate its commitment to the UK and outline its strategy across its various partnership programmes in the UK.

Speaking at the summit today, Sir Andrew Cahn, Non-Executive Director, Huawei UK, said: “The UK has an outstanding reputation for nurturing business growth and pioneering innovation, and we are extremely proud of our relationships with our partners in the UK.  Huawei has enjoyed great success helping to build the UK’s telecoms networks, and we remain fully committed to the UK.  This is one of our most important markets globally and we fully intend to help it remain a leader in new technologies.”

Huawei’s UK Commitment

Huawei announced in 2012 that it intended to spend £1.3 billion in the UK over five years. In fact, it exceeded this commitment by almost £900 million, spending £2.2 billion on investment and procurement over that period. Last year, Huawei announced a further pledge of £3 billion, to be spent with British suppliers between 2018 and 2022.  In 2018 alone, the company purchased over £900 million of goods and services from UK businesses – 30 percent of its procurement goal – and is therefore on course to significantly exceed its new five year target.

Jerry Wang, Huawei UK CEO, commenting on the Oxford Economics report said: “Today’s findings prove Huawei’s value and contribution to the UK economy.  As part of its Industrial Strategy, the UK Government has said it wants ‘a Britain that lives on the digital frontier, with full-fibre broadband, new 5G networks and smart technologies’.  We are proud of the role we have played in helping to develop the UKs digital infrastructure and we remain committed to being a strong and innovative partner to our customers.”

Since opening its first office in the UK in 2001, Huawei has grown to employ 1,600 people directly.  The number of jobs supported by Huawei’s overall UK activities has risen five-fold in seven years, as Huawei has made specific commitments to procure from British companies.  Oxford Economics’ research also finds that Huawei boasts high productivity levels. With each UK employee contributing to GDP of £183,000 – 3.5 times more productive than the average UK worker, Huawei is building a highly skilled workforce, and invested £1.3 million in training last year.

In 2018, Huawei invested £112 million in research and development, employing more than 300 researchers in the UK.  Huawei also collaborated with 35 universities and research institutes, according to the report. In 2018 it sent 50 STEM undergraduates from leading UK universities to China for a month as part of its Seeds for the Future programme.  Tax revenue of £470 million was estimated to have been generated by Huawei activity last year, which was sufficient to fund the annual salaries of over 17,000 nurses.

Pete Collings, Director of Economic Impact Consulting, Europe & Middle East at Oxford Economics said: “Our research highlights how Huawei has continued to make a substantial contribution to the UK economy. This extends beyond the company’s own operations, to include significant activity throughout the breadth of the UK economy, as Huawei conducts crucial research and development in the UK and draws on UK-based firms to deliver the inputs required for its global business.”