London accounts for 5% of the sector workforce in England and 4% of all sectors in the UK.  13% of England’s food and drink manufacturing enterprises are located in London and 10% of the UK enterprises.

The sector workforce in London is better qualified compared to the rest of the sector workforce within England and the UK.  Only 48% of the sector‘s workforce have a Level 2 qualification or below, compared to 66% in England and 65% in the UK.  33% of the sector’s workforce is qualified to Level 4 or higher, compared with 17% in England and in the UK.

17% of employers in London report vacancies, compared with 35% of employers in England.  This is the lowest proportion of employers reporting vacancies for any English region.  2% of the employers report hard-to-fill vacancies, compared with 8% of employers in England.  3% of employers report skill shortage vacancies, which is again the lowest proportion of employers for any English region.

Source: At a Glance – London 2005

For more regional data on the sector go to the Improve website.  

For more data on London industries in the sector see: Capital Eats: An Analysis of London’s Food economy (2004).