The regional workforce is approximately 41,730,  accounting for 10% of the sector’s workforce in the UK food and drink manufacturing employment.  The region is ranked 5th in terms of representation of the food and drink industry.  The contribution of the food and drink manufacturing and processing sector to gross value added (GVA) has steadily increased over the last decade.

Employment levels in food processing and drink manufacturing has decreased over the last few years.  In food processing 32.7% of the region’s workforce is in Norfolk, 26.4% in Suffolk and 15.1% in Cambridgeshire.  Drink manufacturing is concentrated in Essex (33%) and Suffolk (32.1%).

The regional workforce is poorly qualified compared to all sectors in England and in the UK.  25% of food and drink employees in Norfolk are qualified to Level 3 or above, compared with 32% nationally.  18% have no qualifications, compared with 13% nationally.

36% of employers in the East of England report vacancies, compared with 35% of employers in England.  11% of the employers report hard-to-fill vacancies, compared with 8% of employers in England.  11% of employers report skill shortage vacancies, compared with 9% of employers in England.

Source: At a Glance – East of England 2005 and Cambridge Econometrics 2003

For more regional data go to the Improve website.