The value of UK clothing and textile production increased by 2.5 per cent to £9.1bn between 2014 and 2016, but new investment could offer even greater potential as Brexit looms, interim findings of the Textiles Growth Programme has found. The programme received £27m via the government’s Regional Growth Fund in 2012 and attracted a further £123m from the private sector through the support of 340 British manufacturers.
The latest findings show the project created or safeguarded 4,450 manufacturing jobs and created 380 apprenticeships over the four-year period. The UK’s clothing and textile manufacturing workforce now stands at 127,500 people across all skill levels from packing and warehouse staff through to board directors, the ONS Labour Force Survey indicates.
The programme is being hailed as one of the most successful Regional Growth Fund projects ever, as it achieved growth in the micro supply chain with no prime manufacturers for the first time. The industry now has the potential to add 10,000 new jobs and £500m more to the UK’s economy each year by 2020, it said.