The textiles industry is part of the fashion and textiles sector, which is represented by Creative Skillset, which also includes: apparel; textiles; and footwear and leather; advertising; animation; computer games; facilities; film; interactive media; photo imaging; publishing; radio; and television. The fashion and textiles sector as a whole employs an estimated 340,000 people across 79,000 enterprises, which are predominately small and medium sized employers. The sector contributes around £10 billion to the UK economy each year, but due to the current economic downturn, product exports have fallen. However, employment in the sector has remained relatively stable level.
The apparel industry includes the: processing of yarns and fibres; dyeing and finishing of yarns, threads and fabrics; manufacture of textile articles, such as soft furnishings; production of carpets; and the production and development of new textiles and fibres, including technical textiles. Recent manufacturing output of the industry has declined, but productivity has risen where it has remained virtually static across the wider manufacturing sector. A few businesses in the fashion and textiles sector as a whole have made redundancies or reduced staff hours, as a result of the current economic climate. Technical markets and overseas businesses have also been hard hit.
Key facts:
- The industry contributes around £4.1 billion to the UK economy each year.
- Around 105,000 people are employed in the industry.
- There are around 26,000 businesses, of which around 20,000 are sole traders.
- The businesses in this sector tend to be small or medium‐sized, employing 250 people or fewer.
Jobs in the industry range from:
- Process operatives – beamer; blender; carder; textile colour technologist
- Technician staff – loom tuner/technician; tufting tuner/technician
- Technical staff – textile technologist
- Design staff – carpet designer; textile designer
- Production staff – production manager/director; technical manager/director
National and regional data
The greatest concentrations of textile activity are in West Yorkshire (Kirklees and Bradford) and Lancashire (Rochdale and Manchester). Across all regions it is estimated that there will be a substantial decline in the total level of employment in textile manufacturing to 2017.
East Midlands – There are over 9,000 people employed in the region. Leicester City has the largest industry workforce, followed by Amber Valley (Derbyshire) and Derby.
East of England – There are more than 4,000 people employed within the industry in the region, who are mainly located in Babergh in South Suffolk, Luton and South Cambridgeshire.
London – London employs around 10,000 people in the industry. Westminster has the largest number of people employed in textiles, with the bulk of the remainder split pretty evenly between Brent, Hackney, Wandsworth and Kensington.
North East – There are over 2,000 people employed within the industry in the region, which represents a small proportion of the total UK employment in this sector. County Durham has the largest number of people employed, followed by Darlington.
North West – There are almost 20,000 people employed within the industry in the region. Tameside has the largest share, followed by Manchester, Rochdale Bury and Blackburn.
South East – There are over 9,000 people employed within the industry in the region, which is evenly distributed around the districts of Aylesbury Vale, Wealdon (East Sussex), Windsor and Maidenhead, Test valley (Hants) and Brighton.
South West – There are around 4,000 people employed within the industry, who are mainly working in Mid Devon and East Devon.
West Midlands – There are over 6,000 people employed within the industry. Wyre Forest has the largest number of people employed in textiles.
Yorkshire and the Humber – There are over 13,000 people employed within the industry, making it one of the largest regions for textiles in the UK. Kirklees and Bradford have the largest number of people employed in the textiles industry.
[N.B. Data derived from Annual Business Inquiry, 2007.]
