More than 50% of establishments report increases in sales over the last year and one fifth report increased staffing levels. Approximately 66% of organisations forecast continued increases in sales and 25% forecast increased staffing levels.

Two fifths of apparel manufacturers are involved in export. More than 50% of establishments in the region source from overseas, but only a few of those who do not currently source from overseas expect to do so in the future. Organisations in the region are most likely to serve the protective clothing market.

22% of establishments arrange or fund training and 7% are linked to a formal qualification. Similar to other regions, job specific, health and safety, and induction training are most commonly provided by organisations. There is a reliance on in-house training.

10% of organisations, concentrated in wholesale, are owned or part-owned by a member of an ethnic minority group.

In the future, establishments in the sector forecast difficulties in replacing staff as they retire. Operative staff are expected to be the most difficult to replace, which includes sewing machinists and textile machine operators. Currently, there are shortages of sales staff in manufacturing. Skills gaps relate to machine operator skills, sales skills and customer handling skills. Medium and larger organisations are twice as likely to report skills gaps.

Future challenges for the sector include:

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

Source: Regional report – North East 2004