The restaurants industry is represented by People 1st, the Sector Skills Council for hospitality, passenger transport, travel and tourism. The hospitality, travel and tourism sector incorporates the following industries: contract food service providers, events, gambling, holiday parks, hospitality services, hostels, hotels, membership clubs, pubs, bars and nightclubs, restaurants, self-catering accommodation, tourist services, and visitor attractions. The sector accounts for a workforce of 2.1 million, most of which are based within the restaurants, hospitality services, and pubs, bars and nightclubs industries. The roles within the sector are extremely diverse and include managers, technical staff, front-of-house staff, back-of-house staff, and non-core staff.
The restaurant industry provides food and drink and includes:
- Fast food establishments – such as McDonalds, Burger King and KFC, as well as traditional outlets such as fish and chips shops, sushi bars and sandwich bars
- Cafes and coffee shops
- Mainstream Restaurants – these are high street restaurants which tend to be mid‐price and include many branded and themed chains such as Pizza Express, Garfunkel’s and Ask
- Fine Dining – these tend to be more expensive restaurants that offer unique dishes and, sometimes, more experimental cuisine.
Key facts:
- There are 614,100 people working in the restaurant industry.
- 14% of the workforce has an NVQ Level 4 or above qualification.
- The majority of the workforce has a NVQ Level 2 qualification (28%).
- 13% of the workforce has no qualifications.
- 53% of the workforce is employed full‐time.
[N.B. Data derived from Labour Force Survey, 2009.]
Jobs in the industry range from: kitchen assistants, bar manager, general manager, chef, cleaner, conference and banqueting manager, waiter/waitress, food and beverage manager, kitchen porter, restaurant manager, wine waiter.
National and regional data
East Midlands – There are approximately 45,200 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 45% work full‐time
- 53% of the workforce is female
- 70% of the workforce is white
- 28% of the workforce is 16‐19 years
- 31% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
East of England – There are approximately 47,300 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 50% work full‐time
- 53% of the workforce is female
- 81% of the workforce is white
- The majority of the workforce is aged 16‐24 years (44%)
- 31% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
London – There are approximately 92,900 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 64% work full‐time
- 69% of the workforce is female
- 39% of the workforce is white
- 20% of the workforce is 20‐24 years
- 30% of the workforce has an NVQ level 1 and entry level qualification
North East – There are approximately 25,300 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 46% work full‐time
- 55% of the workforce is female
- 80% of the workforce is white
- The majority of the workforce is aged between 16‐24 years (48%)
- 26% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
North West – There are approximately 65,500 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 53% work full‐time
- 46% of the workforce is female
- 79% of the workforce is white
- The majority of the workforce is aged between 16‐24 years (47%)
- 28% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
South East – There are approximately 76,500 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 61% work full‐time
- 45% of the workforce is female
- 73% of the workforce is white
- 21% of the workforce is 16‐19 years
- 26% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
South West – There are approximately 53,000 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 47% work full‐time
- 56% of the workforce is female
- 93% of the workforce is white
- 36% of the workforce is 16‐19 years
- 35% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
West Midlands – There are approximately 48,300 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 49% work full‐time
- 42% of the workforce is female
- 64% of the workforce is white
- 22% of the workforce is 20‐24 years
- 31% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
Yorkshire and the Humber – There are approximately 51,000 people working in the restaurant industry in this region, of which:
- 43% work full‐time
- 52% of the workforce is female
- 79% of the workforce is white
- 26% of the workforce is 16‐19 years
- 31% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
Northern Ireland – There are approximately 43,900 people working in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector as whole in Northern Ireland, of which 20,800 work in the restaurant industry in 2,000 establishments. Details as follows:
- 55% work full‐time
- 57% of the workforce is female
- 88% of the workforce is white
- 34% of the workforce is 20‐29 years
- 26% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
Scotland – There are approximately 183,500 people working in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector as whole in Scotland, of which 59,600 work in the restaurant industry in 6,200 establishments. Details as follows:
- 51% work full‐time
- 54% of the workforce is female
- 88% of the workforce is white
- 24% of the workforce is 24‐29 years
- 27% of the workforce has an NVQ level 3 qualification
Wales – There are approximately 86,100 people working in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector as whole in Wales, of which 28,800 work in the restaurant industry in 3,300 establishments. Details as follows:
- 49% work full‐time
- 60% of the workforce is female
- 88% of the workforce is white
- 22% of the workforce is 16‐19 years
- 29% of the workforce has an NVQ level 2 qualification
[N.B. Data derived from Labour Force Survey, 2009.]
