Expansion Of NI’s Retail Sector Means 12,000 New Jobs By 2012

Tesco and Skillsmart Retail, the Sector Skills Council for Retail will this week join forces to promote careers in retail in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland’s largest retail employer and the government body which promotes the development of skills in retail will undertake joint promotional activity at Jobscene, an annual careers information advice and guidance fair held all over the UK, arriving at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on Thursday 28th and Friday 29th September. The retail sector is the largest and fastest growing private sector employer in Northern Ireland with approximately 9000 businesses and 82,000 workers. While the majority of these businesses are Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, 20 of Northern Ireland’s top 100 businesses by employee size are Retailers. At the beginning of October, Tesco, Northern Ireland’s biggest employer with 9500 employees, will start recruiting for its new Hydebank store (c 500 jobs) and Ikea has announced that it will need to fill around 400 posts for its store at Tillysburn by summer 2007. In addition, large scale developments such as Castlebawn, Victoria Square and the Outlet at Bridgewater Park will collectively provide an estimated 4,500 new jobs before the end of the decade. With the above developments, it is clear that Northern Ireland’s retail sector has an obvious and ever growing importance to the economy, providing jobs for more than 11% of the workforce, a route to market for all production and much local agriculture, and support to the crucially important tourism and hospitality sector.

If all planned developments go ahead, Skillsmart Retail predicts a growth of 12,000 new jobs in the sector in Northern Ireland by 2012. If the current occupational structure remains, about 2,500 of these jobs will be in management. As well as the large multiple retailers, relatively new to Northern Ireland’s shores, some of the nation’s independent retailers are more robust and successful than ever despite stiff competition from multinationals. (CD)