The fencing industry is made up of specialist contractors and installers, including safety fencing contractors, as well as multi-skilled operators who undertake fencing work.

The Fencing Contractors Association has a membership of 243 businesses, who employ over 12,000 people full-time plus a large number of sub-contractors.  There are also estimated to be 3,000 to 4,000 smaller businesses employing between 10,000-15,000.

Key statistics on the industry:

• 25% of the workforce are self-employed
• 88.3% of businesses employ less than 10 people
• 86% of proprietors are male, 89% of staff are male
• staff and proprietors are commonly aged 35-44 years
• just under 11% of all establishments report vacancies, all of which are hard-to-fill
• no skill shortage vacancies are reported

There is a lack of quality provision, specifically in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the South East of England.  With the removal of industry accreditation  for obtaining the FISS/CSCS cards, the demand for NVQ training has increased and is now the only route to obtain the industry recognised cards.

There is a need for skills training opportunities and recruitment of apprentices under the age of 18 years old to work within the industry.

Job-specific skills are critical in the industry.  Multi-skilling is becoming more important with operatives increasingly needing to carry out minor construction and in some cases electro-mechanical work.  Product knowledge, health and safety, and knowledge of new legislation and codes of practice are also needed in the industry.  With new fencing systems developing there is constant need for new technical skills
development.

Source: Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1: Key Drivers of Skill Demand 2005, Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1: Annex 2.7 2005 and Fencing Industry report 2005

For regional distribution of businesses and employees in the industry see:

Geographical distribution of fencing industry, 2005