You are here: Home > About us > How we measure our impact

How we measure our impact

Sunset over the river Thames, The O2 and London’s skyline.
Sunset over the river Thames, The O2 and London’s skyline. Image courtesy of visitlondon.com/Jon Reid.
Last updated: 13 January 2025

Find out more about London & Partners’ economic impact and evaluation methodology.

The additional economic impact of London & Partners is defined as the extra benefits generated as a direct result of our intervention, compared to what would have happened without our work.

Measurement of this additional economic value, "gross value added" (GVA), is calculated mainly by surveying a representative sample of our audiences.

How is London & Partners' impact measured?

What is gross value added (GVA)?

  • GVA is the economic added value created when producing goods or providing services.
  • It is the difference between the price paid for a good or service and the cost of inputs used in its production.
  • GVA measures profits and wages of London-based businesses and London’s employees. By measuring our impact on increasing GVA, we are reporting our economic contribution to London.

What are our performance indicators?

  • We measure the economic benefits to the city with GVA and jobs retained.
  • Economic impact figures are expressed in terms of GVA (economic wealth), unless stated otherwise.
  • We track our outputs, for example the number of companies we have supported.
  • We also estimate additional leisure tourists, business delegates, major event-goers and additional sales made by London's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have been part of our programmes.

Jobs created and supported

  • By attracting foreign direct investment in key sectors for London, we generate new, high-value jobs for the London economy.
  • We also create new and safeguard existing jobs in London by attracting the spend of tourists, business delegates and major event spectators.
  • We cannot track these jobs directly, but we use a robust model to estimate the number of jobs that our promotional activities support.

What is our evaluation methodology

The Evaluation Methodology 2021 report outlines the work undertaken by London & Partners and GLA Economics to evaluate impact across our major business areas: foreign direct investment, trade, business tourism and major events.

Read the Evaluation Methodology 2021 [PDF 5.83 MB] report for full information about how we measure our impact.

The evaluation of our impact on the London economy captures only the additional benefits that happen as a result of our interventions. This is ensured by taking account of factors such as over-optimism and displacement.
Jakob Oddershede
Senior Economist & Business Analytics at London & Partners