Skillfast-UK is the Sector Skills Council for apparel, footwear, textiles and related businesses. It covers employers involved in all aspects of the supply chain, including:

• the preparation of raw materials
• through to design and manufacture of clothing, footwear and textiles products,
• wholesaling of post-sale services such as dry-cleaning and shoe repair

Industries in the sector, covered in detail here, include: apparel manufacturing; fashion design; technical textiles; knitting, lace and narrow fabrics; carpets; leather processing; and process yarns and fibres and weaving.

The clothing, footwear and textiles sector encompasses approximately 41,000 businesses and 384,000 employees. The sector is dominated by organisations with less than 10 employees.

Employment in the sector is declining, and is predicted to decline further through to 2014. Over the next 10 years, employment is expected to decline further by more than 85,000 (24%).  However, an estimated 114,000 people will be needed between 2004-2014 to maintain the existing workforce skills.

There will be significant employment opportunities in apparel, footwear and textiles manufacturing, mainly because the average of the current workforce is high.  It is estimated that around 40% of the current workforce will need to be replaced up to 2012.

The contribution of exports to total sales has increased significantly over the last 5 years. Success in export markets will be critical to the sector’s future.

Skills gaps in existing employees are reported by 75% of organisations. The highest incidence of gaps is in core technical skills. Just under 50% of organisations identify skills gaps relating to more generic skills, such as: IT; management and supervisory; sales and marketing; multi-skilling; and team-working skills.

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

All occupations in the sector are predicted to experience job losses through to 2014. Employment in this sector is concentrated amongst machine and transport operatives and elementary occupations.

The level of median gross weekly earnings for workers in the two manufacturing industries covered by the sector is around 80% of that for the whole economy.

The overall gender profile of the sector is now evenly split, largely as a result of a continuing trend of job losses among female sewing machinists and administrative staff. The sector as a whole has an ageing demographic. The sector is recognised as being an area of considerable ethnic minority employment.

The qualification profile of the sector workforce has shifted markedly upwards in recent years, suggesting that qualifications and skills requirements are increasing.