The contribution of The NEC Group to the West Midlands economy has risen to more than £2 billion a year – with the group also supporting almost 29,000 jobs, a study from KPMG has found.

The report also revealed that the group’s four venues have seen a significant increase in positive impact from 2004, when it generated £1.3 billion and supported about 22,000 jobs.

The NEC Group operates The National Exhibition Centre and NEC Arena in Solihull and The National Indoor Arena and International Convention Centre in Birmingham.

The total expenditure as a result of activity at the group’s venues equates to £0.7 billion of gross value added – one per cent of the West Midlands total gross value added. The report also showed that 70 per cent of visitors to the NEC Group venues come from outside the region, bringing significant business and leisure spend into the West Midlands.

Out of the four venues, visitors to the ICC spend the most on accommodation and travel – an average of £122 – which reflects the calibre of national and international conferences the ICC runs.

Paul Thandi, chief executive of The NEC Group, said: “We have always considered The NEC Group’s contribution to the regional and national economies – and the number of jobs supported – to be amongst the greatest of our responsibilities.

“To have have it confirmed by KPMG that our impact has grown so significantly serves only to reinforce how important it is that The NEC Group remains competitive and successful into the future.

“That is why we have put in place a strategy to grow and develop not only our core business of exhibitions, conferences and events through investment in our venues, services and employees – but also to develop more of a destination at The NEC through the creation of a major leisure and entertainment complex, including a large casino, which will deliver the complete ‘work, rest and play’ environment for our customers.

“We are a major part of one of the UK’s largest and yet most underrated economic sectors: business and leisure tourism, something that Birmingham and the West Midlands leads the UK in and I am proud of the contribution we are making even in these tough economic times.”

Ian Taylor, commercial director at Marketing Birmingham added: “From the BBC Summer Festival to Duran Duran and every type of event in between, The NEC Group is at the heart of a world class events industry in Birmingham.

“Consistently orchestrating the must-see shows there is no doubt that The NEC Group plays an important role in attracting local, national and international visitors to Birmingham and the wider the region.”

Between April 2007 and March 2008, events such as exhibitions, conferences and concerts were surveyed and more 2,400 interviews were held across a cross section of the events in order to understand the spending patterns of visitors, exhibitors, organisers and technical staff in terms of travel, accommodation, suppliers, food and drink and entertainment.