The number of employees in the East Midlands has only increased in 13% of establishments, whilst 13% report a decline.

More than 40% of establishments report increases in sales over the last year and approximately 55% forecast continued increases. 30% of manufacturers and wholesalers are involved in export, which is lower than the national average of 36%. Organisations in the region are most likely to serve construction and protective clothing markets.

18% of establishments arrange or fund training and 7% are linked to a formal qualification. Only 2% of establishments in the region use NVQs. Job specific and health and safety training are most commonly provided by organisations. There is a reliance on in-house training.

18% of organisations, mainly wholesalers and dry cleaning/laundries, are owned or part-owned by a member of an ethnic minority group.

Vacancies and skills shortage vacancies are mostly reported in operative jobs, specifically sewing machinists and textile machine operators. Skills shortages are reported in shoemakers, garment cutters, linkers and weavers. Skills gaps include design skills, specialist IT and quality control.

Establishments in the sector anticipate difficulties in replacing staff as they retire in the next few years which will affect 1,300 staff. Managers and operative staff are expected to be the most difficult to replace when staff retire.

Future challenges for the sector:

• attracting new customers
• reducing costs
• improving quality of service

Source: Regional report – East Midlands 2004