The latest retail sales index figures report UK consumers were spending on the high street in May, with spending in textiles, clothing and footwear stores up 4.2% in the month to leave the index at its highest rate level since November 2015. Overall, the index is 10% higher than in 2012, the same rate as … More Fashion retail sales soar in May 2016
The Office for National Statistics TOPSI survey has shown turnover for fashion and textiles manufacturers was very slightly down in April 2016, £726 million from £728 million the month before and at a similar level to April 2015’s levels. Figure 1: Monthly fashion and textile manufacturing turnover figures (£m)Source: Office for National Statistics On an … More Manufacturer turnover static in April although annual measure shows continuing small falls
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics quarterly Labour Force Survey indicates the stellar employment growth witnessed in fashion and textiles manufacturing during 2015 has continued into the start of 2016. Employ across textiles, apparel and leather manufacturing now stands at 144,000 people, up 3,000 on q4 2016. Interestingly, whilst apparel manufacturing employment … More Fashion and textiles employment continues to surge in q1 2016
The latest Office for National Statistics consumer price index figures for clothing and footwear show prices edged down in May, standing 0.2% lower than in April and 0.4% lower than in the corresponding month in 2015. The current standing of 100.1 shows prices have only marginally risen since 2015. Overall, the whole economy CPI … More Consumer prices for clothing and footwear edge downwards in May
Monitoring this weeks job advertisements on Friday June 10th, has seen a large drops in advertisements within Drapers magazine, although Fashion United has seen a small rise. Both publications however have both seen large falls over the four week measure as we move into the summer. Drapers Drapers Online advertised 1,797 vacancies. Most popular job … More Large drop in Drapers jobs advertised although Fashion United steadies
Despite a downturn in monthly volumes in April, fashion and textiles exports have risen to record levels on the annual figure to April 2016 showing how global demand continues unabated despite economic uncertainty. On the monthly scale, exports declined in April as they did a year previously to stand at £850m, down from £907m in … More Annual UK fashion and textiles exports reach record levels
An interesting discussion at Meet the Manufacturer was chaired by Peter Marsh, ex-manufacturing editor of the Financial Times and recent founder of the MadeHereNow website that aims to champion UK manufacturing. On the panel were Guy Hills from Dashing Tweeds, Ian MacLean of John Smedley and Tim Walker, fashion industry consultant working with brands such … More Heritage meets Innovation at Meet the Manufacturer
The lastest Index of Production figures show fashion and texiles manufacturing enjoyed a stellar April with production improving 4.7% over the month. This is in line with wider UK manufacturing that saw an increase of 2.4%. Despite this rise, productivity still remains down on the start of the year and currently stands at 89.2 in … More Large gains in fashion and textiles manufacturing productivity recorded in April
Both Drapers and Fashion United online have seen little change in job vacancy advertisements over the past week. However, on the four week scale, there has been a large slow down in both cases. Drapers Drapers Online advertised 1,908 vacancies on Friday 3rd June. The most popular vacancies advertised were for design, merchandiser and sales … More No change for vacancies although longer term trend down
March’s export figures for selected fashion and textiles goods show an additional £38m was exported in the month with a value of £907m. This represents the third successive increase in the value of exports although slightly below the £916m exported in March 2015. All four product groups saw increases in the month with clothing standing … More Exports up in March but values fall back slighty on annual measure
UK Fashion Focus 