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The British textiles industry has long been revered for its reputable brands, skilled individuals and craftsmanship. After several decades of slow decline, manufacturers are weaving a new outlook for the industry and today, textiles contributes an estimated £26 billion to the UK economy, supporting several employment opportunities in the process.
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Weaving a new wave in Textiles.
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The British textiles industry has long been revered for its reputable brands, skilled individuals and craftsmanship. After several decades of slow de-cline, manufacturers are weaving a new outlook for the industry and today, textiles contributes an es-timated £26 billion to the UK economy, supporting several employment opportunities in the process.
TEXTILES IN NUMBERS
Much of manufacturing has seen an increase in perfor-mance, likewise, textiles has gained interest and exports for fashion and textiles goods continue to grow. Cur-rently the EU provides the lion’s share of this demand but in the last decade exports to non-EU markets has increased at a steady rate year on year.
The total annual household consumption on textiles in the UK. On average, British con-sumers spend roughly £600 on fashion in a year, above the EU average of £500.
£44 billion
79,000 The number of businesses that make up Brit-ain’s textile industry, of which 95% are micro businesses.
340,000 The estimated number of people that these businesses employ. Beyond manufacturing, the retail of textiles, clothing and footwear has created opportunities for 435,000 peo-ple n the UK.
The amount of gross value added for the Tex-tile industry in the UK, with GVA at an aver-age of £34,220 per head. In the past 5 years sales across the clothing and garment sector have grown by 20%.
£11.5 billion
The number of successive years that exports from the UK textiles industry have grown. In the third quarter of 2013, exports to non-EU markets were worth £845 million.
10
TEXTILES’ TRENDS
With a return to the ‘golden days’ of British tex-tiles in mind, the industry has been faced with the challenge of modernising factories, redevel-oping the skills of its workforce and improving its ethics and efficiencies.
Re-invention has kept the British textiles sector at the forefront of manufacturing in this area. By diversifying, businesses have been able to defend themselves against years of decline , instead con-verting their products to meet ever-changing de-mand. Technology in this industry is developing all the time and with modern techniques and materi-als, manufacturers are finding ways to apply their expertise to a new range of products in varying fields. McLaren, for instance, has designed a car based on weaving as a means of production and the same reinforcing process is likely to be applied to aircraft in the not too distant future.
TEXTILES’ STORY
Textile production developed from a cottage industry to resemble the factory line we recognise today as the Industrial Revolution changed the face of Britain.
By the 1970s nearly 900,000 people were employed in the manufacturing or retail of textiles, a number that would drop by 85% by 2014 as industry declined and manufacturers fought off cheap production lines in the far east. After many years of decline, British textiles is experiencing a revival - competing with suppliers over-seas under the promise of quality that has always been synonymous with products made in the UK.
The tide is turning in industry and manufacturers in the textiles sector are growing once more. Supporting this resurgence, the UK has honoured its textile heritage and celebrated a new wave of designers and manufac-turers at this year’s Fashion and Textiles Awards.
Sponsored by NatWest, the awards praise individu-als and businesses in the sector, support newcomers and commend company’s who choose to manufacture here in the UK.
Today’s success can be linked back to its history and those that made British textiles so revered in foreign markets, as well as a new breed of eco-conscious man-ufacturers concerned with improving the lasting im-pact of production on the environment.
Counteracting the ‘throw away’ culture of the ear-ly 2000s, today the textiles industry is focused on improving its impact on the environment. In the last decade, synthetic dyes have become less pop-ular in favour of safer natural dyes, as manufac-turers have become more aware of eco-friendly alternatives. Recently, EU countries voted unan-imously to extend existing restrictions on non-ylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) being imported as a material in clothing and other textiles. Used to dye and rinse fabrics, NPE degrades into harmful substances that when washed affect aquatic life.
As the cost of production in the far East increases, businesses are bringing manufacture back tot he UK to benefit from better delivery times and in-grained quality. High value brands, delivering lux-ury textiles, have been quick to bring their prod-ucts home with 20% doing so in recent years. This has been in part, boosted by an increasing interest from the growing middle class in foreign countries who are seeking out prestigious British brands. On the high street, brands such as John Lewis and Top Shop are also championing fashion produced in the UK. The prior invested £480 million into its ‘Made in Britain’ brand in 2012.
