Forgot your password?
Regional and national dimension
The majority of total UK employment across the sector is located in England (85%). Sector employment is heavily concentrated in four English regions and account for more than 50% of total UK employment in the sector:
- North West
- East Midlands
- Greater London
- Yorkshire and the Humber
Around one third of total sector employment in Great Britain is contained within only 20 districts. Sector employment is concentrated within particular localities:
- Leicester City district accounts for one quarter of total sector employment in the East Midlands
- Kirklees accounts for approximately one quarter of total sector employment in Yorkshire and the Humber
In some regions the clothing, textiles and footwear industries are the primary, if not the only, form of manufacturing industry.
Footwear is concentrated in: Northamptonshire; Leicestershire; and to a lesser extent in the North West. The textiles industry is clustered in: North West; Yorkshire and the Humber; and the East Midlands. The decline in the sector has particularly affected these three regions. Further significant job losses are predicted in the sector across all regions.
Source: Skills Need Assessment 2005a and Foundation Degree Sectoral Frameworks 2004
Profile of sector employment by country and English region, 2003/04
Source: Skills Need Assessment 2005a, table 2. Data from Annual Business Inquiry 2003, Labour Force Survey 2004 and Skillfast-UK database of companies.
NB. Figures do not sum dues to rounding.
Industry concentrations at local level
More than a third of employment in Process Yarns and Fibres is concentrated in Kirklees district (West Yorkshire). Kirklees also accounts for 10% of total weaving employment, with 50% of employment in the industry in Bradford, Leeds, Burnley, Hyndburn and Tameside.
Knitting activity centres on Leicester City, the Scottish Borders and three districts of Ashfield, Amber Valley and Erewash in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Wyre Forest (West Midlands) has approximately one fifth of total employment in carpet manufacture. This district includes the carpet making centre of Kidderminster. A further fifth of employment is concentrated in the three West Yorkshire districts of Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford.
The largest concentrations of footwear and leather manufacturing activity are located in the East Midlands and North West of England. Footwear manufacture is clustered in Northampton, Kettering and East Northamptonshire accounting for a third of total employment. A fifth of employment in leathergoods manufacture is within Walsall (West Midlands). The small number of companies engaged in leather processing are concentrated in Leeds, South Somerset and Renfrewshire.
Particular concentrations of employment in wholesale/trading are found in Manchester, Leeds/Bradford, Westminster (London) and Tower Hamlets (London).
Although there is a significant level of apparel manufacturing activity in most UK regions, the largest concentrations of employment in clothing manufacture are in the East Midlands, London and the North West. Leicester City, the only notable concentration, accounts for approximately 8% of total Great Britain employment in apparel manufacturing.
In textiles design and manufacture, regional concentrations of employment are in the North West, East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.
In servicing of apparel, footwear and textile products, employment is fairly evenly distributed geographically. The largest dry cleaning, laundry and textile servicing industry employment concentrations are in London (approximately 7,000) and the South East (approximately 6,000).
Source: Skills Need Assessment 2005a and Foundation Degree Sectoral Frameworks 2004
Last cached: 2008-05-06 06:00 PM