People 1st
People 1st Contact:
Karen Couzens
Head Office
Head Office
People 1st
2nd Floor
Armstrong House
38 Market Square
Uxbridge
UB8 1LH
M: 07795 011983
E: karen.couzens@people1st.co.uk
E: karen.couzens@people1st.co.uk
Learning and Skills Council Contact: simon.wigington@lsc.gov.uk / christine.billinghurst@lsc.gov.uk
Click here for the People 1st North East Fact Sheet
Overview of the Sector in the North East
People 1st is the Sector Skills Council for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism and includes hotels, restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs, contract food service providers, membership clubs, events, gambling, travel services, tourist services, visitor attractions, youth hostels, holiday parks, self-catering accommodation, hospitality services. (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
The common factor is providing a positive customer experience, which means that the people employed in the sector are its greatest asset. (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
Over the last 2 years, there have been increases in the number of tourists coming to the region helping the sector to contribute over £1 billion to the region’s economy. (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
There are 69,614 employees in the sector with growth forecasted at 9% between 2002 and 2014. There are 9,300 workplaces of which 27% have 50 or more employees. (Regional Sector Overview 2005) A relatively high proportion of the NE workforce is employed in pubs, bars and nightclubs and the gambling industry compared to the national average.
Females make up 65% of the workforce, which is predominantly young (only 20% of employees are aged 45 years and above) the age distribution of the workforce in the NE is broadly similar to nationally although there is a higher proportion of workers aged 16-24 (41%) than in England as a whole (36%). (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
The proportion of the workforce in the NE with NVQ3+ or equivalent qualifications is 29%, significantly smaller than 37% for England. (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
The proportion of non-white employees in the NE is significantly lower than the national figures (5% compared to 14% in England. (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
The age, ethnicity, gender and qualifications profiles highlighted above, mask considerable variability within the sector, e.g. industries such as restaurants and pubs, bars and nightclubs, have very young age profiles while those in contract catering, hospitality services and self catering accommodation tend to be older.
Key issues facing the sector now and in the future
Priorities for businesses in the NE are marketing, securing more business, maintaining income streams, achieving business improvement through capital investment and recruitment and training issues. (WDP 05-10[1])
The region is planning for tourism growth creating a need to cater for increases in domestic and overseas visitors. (WDP 05-10)
The key drivers affecting the skill requirements of the sector are the competitive environment and a more demanding consumer who has greater customer service expectations. (dialogue 2004)
The pub and gambling industries are on the brink of deregulation which is resulting in the opening up of markets and the potential expansion of these businesses. (Dialogue 2004)
Employment Issues in the North East
Current and forecast recruitment demand (either for growth or replacement)
Overall, the sector is growing, in terms of both employment and turnover. Within the sector, however, growth has varied. At the two ends of the scale, employment in the restaurant industry has grown by 16% while the numbers employed in travel and tourism services has dropped by 6%. Some of this downturn can be attributed to the events of September 11 2001. (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
National figures produced by IER and Cambridge Econometrics estimate that between 2002 and 2012, the sector will generate an additional 15,000 new jobs. In addition, 846,000 more employees are forecast to be needed to replace those who leave or retire from jobs in the sector. (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
An estimated 7-8,000 individuals will be needed to fill new jobs, and over 40,000 people per year to satisfy replacement demand (WDP 05-10) Currently 20,000 people are studying the subject at college or in work based learning. (WDP 05-10)
Recruitment difficulties and causes
The same proportion of vacancies (notified to the employment service) exists in the NE as in England as a whole (8%). (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
However, recent research undertaken for the NE Tourism Workforce Development Plan 2005-2010 cites that finding staff is the biggest workforce development issue for employers followed by training issues.
In the 2004 dialogue, it was reported that approximately 3000 vacancies exist in this industry on any given day in the North East, and one third of these are considered by employers as HTF. Chefs are an occupational group that has particularly acute shortages.
The proportion of companies reporting vacancies in the NE was 18% (1133 firms) compared to 24% in England. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005 based on NESS 2003)
The proportion of companies reporting HTF vacancies in the NE is 7% compared to 11% for England.
Retention issues
Nearly 40,000 jobs (50%) are replaced each year in the sector.
Attracting people into the sector
In the 2004 dialogue, it was reported that the industry is seen as one that provides ‘stop gap’ or temporary employment rather than providing long term career opportunities.
According to employers across England, the main reason why the sector has HTF vacancies is that ‘people aren’t interested in doing this type of job’. However, over one third of employers cited ‘lack of applicants with the required skills as being why vacancies were HTF. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005)
The Workforce Development Plan highlights the need to reverse the poor employment image of the sector by encouraging businesses to recruit from different pools of labour in future to fill new and replacement jobs. Target campaigns are required to redress gender, age and ethnicity imbalances. (WDP 05-10)
Skill requirements of new recruits
When considering the type of skills, job applicants were lacking the majority of employers highlighted generic skills. Nearly half of employers found it difficult to find applicants with communication and team working skills. However 47% also highlighted a lack of applicants with technical and practical skills.
Workforce Development in the North East
Skills shortages/gaps in existing workforce and latent skills issues
The proportion of companies in the NE reporting a skills shortage vacancy is 3% compared to 5% of companies in England as a whole. (Regional Fact Sheet: 2005)
However, the proportion of companies reporting internal skills gaps was much higher at 30% (slightly higher than the proportion for England as a whole 29%). (Regional Fact Sheet: 2005)
The main reason for employers reporting a skills gap in their workforce is that staff lack experience or are newly recruited. This is a particular problem in the sector as it tends to suffer from high rates of labour turnover. Reducing labour turnover and having in place effective induction programmes could go some way to reducing skills gaps within the workforce. (Regional Fact Sheet: 2005)
There are both common and specific skills needs required by the current and future tourism workforce. The accepted common skill needs identified by the SSC (cited in the WDP 05-10) are:
- Customer Service
- Management/supervisory skills
- Basic Skills
- Multiskilling
- Generic skills and attributes
- Occupational specific skills
- ICT skills
Skills issues in the sector include the need to increase managerial and supervisory skills and qualifications. (Regional Fact Sheet: NE 2005)
The nature of jobs in the sector provides opportunities for promoting diversity and developing adult basic skills in the workplace. (Regional Fact Sheet: 2005)
Prioritisation of skills issues within the industries
The NE Tourism Development Plan cites 6 major work areas:
- Employer Engagement
- Getting people into work and developing a career in tourism
- Upskilling the tourism workforce in the NE
- A step change in the quality of visitor experience on offer in the region
- Giving businesses fit for purpose support and expertise
- Preparing the workforce for future tourism jobs in the NE
Learning and Skills Infrastructure in the North East
There are four regional Centres of Vocational Excellence at Northumberland College, New College Durham, Newcastle College and Middlesbrough College. (WDP 05-10)
There are 266 Foundation (FD) courses available nationally in Hospitality, leisure and Tourism Services of which 13 are offered in the NE by 6 institutions. (WDP 05-10)
Barriers to employers accessing the skills provision they need
The proportion of firms providing training was equal across the NE and the whole of England (58%), however, of those firms that provided training, those in the NE trained a larger proportion of their staff (77% in the NE compared with 70% nationally). (Regional Fact Sheet: 2005)
47% of companies in the NE reported no barriers to training. This represents a significantly higher proportion than nationally. A lack of time for training was the most common barrier cited by companies in the region. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005 from NESS 2003)
SSC research revealed that only 10% of employers in the business use formal TNA or skills audit techniques. (WDP 05-10)
More recent SSC research findings suggest that businesses would undertake more training if there were funding and staff cover available to them. (WDP 05-10)
Best Practice
NETSA (North East Tourism Skills Alliance) is an alliance of extremely talented and knowledgeable individuals from the ‘supply side’ (partner organisations). NETSA is also responsible for the workforce development plan for the industry. (WDP 05-10)
Any Other Employment and Skills Issues in the North East
Potential Opportunities and Threats
The NE attracted its most foreign tourists last year – more than half a million people visited the region spending around £194 million. The largest proportion came from Germany, Norway, and the US. Visiting friends and relatives accounted for more than one third of visits, a quarter came for a holiday. Study visits more than doubled, increasing from 9000 to 20000 trips.
London Olympic Paralympic Games - regional committies in place.
A new initiative to promote jobs in tourism: Northumberland College has become a CoVE in partnership with NECC and N’land Training Agency. College Principal Tim Capron – CoVE Manager Angela Fairness.
Tourist businesses in the north of the region report increases in business this year. (BA 1.9.05)
The first fully commercial teaching hotel - the Bournemouth Hotel School Project was formally launched earlier this year. This major educational innovation for the hotel industry in the UK was originally conceived in January 1999 by the SW of England’s RDA and Bournemouth.
Currently British tourists spend 5x as much abroad as foreign tourists spend here (Friends of the Earth). Increasing the number of destinations and the number of airlines using the region’s airports may have detrimental effect on the economy.
Tall Ships: the event is believed to have generated an economic boost of over £50 million into the local economy. (Journal 5.8.05 p33)
Increasing the number of visits to the region? Hit TV shows helped inject almost £8.5m to the NE economy last year (double the 2003 figure of 4 m. (Northern Film & Media 2005), e.g. 55degrees North, distant Shores, Wire in the blood.
Supporting Documents and Downloads
£100 Million Boost for New Hospitality Skills Academy [doc]
(33 KB)
