Project Management Profession Contributes £186bn to UK Economy After £30bn Five-year Growth – APM Golden Thread Report 2024
April 25 2024 - 6:00AM
Business Wire
A new report by the Association for Project Management (APM),
the chartered membership organisation for the project profession,
has found that project management in the UK contributes £186.8
billion of annual gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy – a
growth of over £30bn in the last five years.
In addition, the profession now employs an estimated 2.32
million full-time equivalent workers (FTEs). It means 8.5% of total
UK FTEs are employed in project-related roles and the profession
delivers over 9% of total UK GVA – a key measure of economic output
and productivity.
The research, based on official employment data, market
statistics and a survey of over 500 UK businesses, rubberstamps the
significance of the fast-growing profession to the UK economy.
The Golden Thread Report 2024, commissioned by APM and conducted
by PwC Research, shows that key drivers behind the growth include
professional and business services – the largest contributor to
project management GVA at £47.9bn, a rise of 22% from 2019.
Traditional project management sectors have also grown.
Construction GVA rose to £33bn (up from £27bn in 2019) and FTEs
increased from 260,000 to nearly 300,000. Project management within
the financial services sector contributes £13.1bn of GVA and in
IT/Technology it provides £14.4bn, a rise of 92% (from 2019
report).
Other factors behind the growth highlighted by the report
include an increasing recognition of the need for effective
programme management and transformation across all sectors.
The research found the project profession’s current GVA has seen
an increase of almost 20% from £156.5bn in 2019 – representing a
£30.3bn increase. The profession’s role was further underscored
with the finding that the overall £186.8bn UK GVA figure is worth
more than the construction (£120.9bn) and transport and logistics
(£63.4bn) sectors combined.
Professor Adam Boddison OBE, Chief Executive of APM,
said: “We are excited to be launching our second Golden Thread
Report at a pivotal time for project management with the UK economy
recovering tentatively and net zero gathering pace.
“Our first groundbreaking report uncovered the scale and impact
of the project profession to the UK economy and society that can go
easily unnoticed. It emphasised its importance as a vital
cross-sector competence no longer solely associated with
construction and engineering.
“The Golden Thread 2024 deepens the view that our profession is
the most vital ‘golden thread’ running through all sectors of the
economy – driving quality, efficiency and strategic change. The
economic value our profession adds has grown significantly by £30
billion since 2019 with around 200,000 additional professionals,
supported by traditional industries such as professional services
and non-traditional industries including IT and technology.
“Our research is a vital contribution to the debate of the
project profession as we seek to overcome a variety of challenges
and opportunities and continue with our growth trajectory.”
Meanwhile, 68% of businesses polled think more organisations are
starting to realise the value of project management as a concept.
But over half are facing challenges with the skills gap – compared
to a third in 2019 – and a separate 56% raised concerns over
recruitment.
Chris Anstead, a Director in the Global Programme Advisory
Team at Turner & Townsend, a leading global programme
management and construction consultancy, said: “Once upon a
time projects were focused on digging holes and building things.
But now projects and programmes are being used for all sorts of
transformations with our clients applying our skillsets into much
broader applications.
“We are starting to see greater application of programme
management within organisations. In the past, they might have
relied on operational departments to deliver individual projects.
Now they are thinking more about driving step-change, improvements
and ultimately transformation.”
To download the Golden Thread 2024 Report along with supporting
case studies, visit
https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/research/the-golden-thread/
Further key findings from the Golden Thread report:
- Over 50% of businesses anticipate more projects over the next
three years – a significant increase from 2019
- 68% of businesses think more organisations and sectors
realising the value of PM will act as a positive enabler of
growth
- Over half of organisations are facing challenges in finding the
right PM skills
- 56% of businesses believe that difficulty in attracting new
talent will act as a barrier to the growth of the profession
Notes To Editors
About APM
- APM (Association for Project Management) is a professional
membership organisation that sets the standards for the project
profession and raises its profile.
- APM is the only chartered organisation representing the project
profession in the world with over 40,000 individual members and
more than 400 corporate partners based across 140 countries.
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Contact Hayley.mountstevens@apm.org.uk for further details.