More than 5,000 Manchester residents are employed as a direct result of Manchester City Council’s spend on suppliers and contractors, with £357m being spent with local suppliers.

As well as having a significant impact on the local economy, the council's buying power ensures that contractors and sub-contractors recruit as high a percentage of their workforce from Manchester as possible.

As a result of procurement in 2008/09, more than 85% of the contracts for goods and services from its top 300 suppliers were with Greater Manchester firms, with 50% being spent with suppliers in Manchester.

An independent report by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies looked at the impact the supply chain has on the local and social economies and said: "It is fair to say that Manchester City Council's procurement practices have a significant impact on the local economy."

Figures from the report show:

£184m of spending is with organisations within Manchester - of which £85m was spent with construction organisations
£309m is spent with suppliers based in Greater Manchester
£29m spent with Manchester based voluntary sector organisations
£17.5m spent with Manchester based SMEs
5,225 Manchester residents are directly employed due to the council's spend

Procurement spending was found not just to benefit Manchester's economy as a whole, but individual wards, with the highest being spend on contracts in Ardwick (around £43m) the city centre (£41m) and Hulme (£39m).

Councillor Bernard Priest, Executive Member for Finance at Manchester City Council said: "We aim to ensure that we select only 'value for money' products and services, and we consider the social, ethical, environmental and economic impacts when we do so.

"The figures show that we are indirectly employing thousands of people in Manchester through our supply chain as well as contributing significantly to the local economy and this is something we will strive to continue."