The Automotive Retail Sector Impact of the Recession July 2009

Transcription

1 The Automotive Retail Sector Impact of the Recession July 2009 Version FINAL

2 Prepared by: IMI Research Department Fanshaws Brickendon Hertfordshire SG13 8PQ Tel: E mail: research@motor.org.uk

3 Contents 1 Summary Methodology Vehicle Manufacturers* Vehicle Sales Used Car Market Maintenance and Repair Parts Distribution and Supply Vehicle Rental and Leasing Roadside Assistance and Recovery Training Apprenticeships Other Training Employment in the Automotive Retail Sector Redundancy Unemployment Vacancies Annex 1 - Redundancy by region and nation

4 1 Summary In general the evidence available suggests that the sector has been affected negatively by the recession with anecdotal reports of widespread, increased levels of redundancies and business closures throughout the sub-sectors. Analysis of official data sources provides evidence to support these anecdotal reports. Figures show employment levels in the sector are declining, with increased numbers of vehicle trades staff claiming job seeker allowance, along with decreased numbers finding work. Vacancy levels in the sector have also steadily declined month on month since July 08 making it harder for those out of work to find employment. Used vehicle sales have remained fairly unaffected, however new car sales have dramatically fallen. Anecdotally, some independent garages are reported to have benefited from the recession as consumers seek cheaper alternatives for maintaining their vehicles. Investment in apprenticeship training by employers has declined as fewer employers are willing to take on lower skilled staff and wish instead to invest in retaining their higher skilled staff and minimising the impact of productivity of their business that an apprentice can have. 1.1 Methodology This paper has been created in order to understand the impact that the recession is having on the automotive retail sector. Wherever possible official government datasets have been used in order to ensure the evidence base is robust and consistent. As some official data sets are updated on an annual basis, meaning that the impact of the recession cannot be analysed using these sources as yet, this report also uses anecdotal evidence to gain insight. This anecdotal, or qualitative, evidence is provided by key stakeholders and employers in the sector, along with evidence provided by National Managers working at the IMI who have day to day contact with employers in the sector

5 2 Vehicle Manufacturers 1 UK car production has continued to be hard hit by the recession. Figures for April from the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders) demonstrated a continued fall in the number of cars produced, down 55.3% in April compared with the same period a year earlier. This follows a record fall of 59% in February and a drop of 51.3% in March. The SMMT did however note that the scrappage scheme introduced by the government should help to boost car sales, but that this increased demand will take some months to feed through to production increases, with the SMMT forecasting that there should be signs of a pick up towards the end of the summer/early autumn. Concerns over jobs in the automotive sector remain with car giant, GM Motors filing for bankruptcy in the U.S. Though the European arm is set to be spared, concerns remain as restructuring is still expected to result in the loss of some jobs in Europe (BBC News 1/6/09). GM Motors is the parent company for Vauxhall who currently employ some 5,500 UK workers at 2 plants based in Luton and Ellesmere Port. Government officials have tried to allay concerns suggesting that the government will provide support to ensure the future of Vauxhall is secured (Mandelson BBC News 28/5/09). 3 Vehicle Sales New Car Market New vehicle registrations provide a measure of confidence in the economy and the sector from businesses and consumers alike. The new car sales sub-sector continues to experience difficult economic operating conditions. In May 2009 new car registrations were down by 24.8% compared with the same month a year previously. In 2009 to date, new car registrations are down by 289,598 units or 27.9% compared with the same period in The level of new car registrations has been declining since May 2008, but it is hoped that the car scrappage scheme which began on May 18 th will help to bolster sales through the latter part of UK new van and truck registrations were similarly down in May, falling by 49.2% compared with the May 2008 and down 31.4% for the year to date. The fall in the number of new car registrations has been witnessed by and large throughout the European Union. In April the number of new car registrations was down 11.9% compared with the same month a year ago and registrations are down 15.7% in the first four months compared with the same period a year ago. In Western Europe, Germany is a notable exception seeing new car sales rise by 19.4% in April compared with April 2008 and up 18.4% in the year to date. New car registrations in France and Italy, which had previously seen some increases, fell in April by 7.1% and 7.5% respectively, but by considerably less than in other Western European countries. 2 ** All three governments have introduced cash for scrap schemes similar to that announced by the UK chancellor in April, though the German scheme has currently met with the greatest success. This success could in part be due to younger cars being eligible in these schemes. 1 Sources: Source: ACEA European Automobile Manufacturers Association - 5 -

6 Figure 1 UK Monthly New Car Registrations 2007 to New Car Registrations by Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Source: 4 Used Car Market Figures released by SMMT and Experian show that 2008 sales of used cars fared better than those for new vehicles, with full year volumes down only marginally on 2007 to 7,157,982 or -4.4%. This compares with a fall of 11.3% in the number of new vehicle registrations in Anecdotally, reports suggest that used car sales have remained fairly buoyant throughout the first quarter of Some businesses have reported that they are finding it difficult to get hold of some models due to consumers holding onto their cars for longer. The figure below demonstrates the percentage change in new car registrations and used car sales compared with the same month a year previously. Used car sales data for the first quarter of 2009 is not yet available

7 Figure 2 New car registrations and used car sales % change compared with the same period a month earlier New Car Registrations & Used Car Sales % Change compared with the same month a year ago 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% -5.0% -10.0% Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May % -20.0% -25.0% -30.0% -35.0% Used Car Sales New Car Registrations -40.0% Source: citing Experian and the DVLA for Used Car Sales figures 5 Maintenance and Repair There is a general view that the light and heavy vehicle maintenance and repair sub-sectors have seen a negative impact from the recession, more so in dealerships than in independent garages. Those independents who rely on word-of-mouth advertising are less affected than those who bring in business by more traditional marketing/advertising channels. Anecdotally consumers more and more are only taking vehicles in for essential maintenance/repair. The vehicle body building sub-sector reports a reduction in orders, accident and repair businesses reports are mixed. Non-PAS 125 registered accident repair centres are seeing decreased levels of business as non-essential repair work levels are declining. PAS 125 registered businesses are less affected as insurance work levels are fairly constant and steady. 6 Parts Distribution and Supply The anecdotal evidence with regards parts distribution and supply is mixed. Some reports tell of a number of businesses making redundancies as demand has reduced dramatically, whereas other reports suggest that sales are buoyant and better than they have been for some time. 7 Vehicle Rental and Leasing The rental and leasing side has seen some positive outcomes from the recession. One benefit is that the re-sale value of ex-rental vehicles has increased meaning more money is coming into the business from this income stream. The leisure side of the rental market business has increased as people are reportedly renting cars for short periods of time instead of buying their own vehicles

8 The commercial leasing side has seen a slight dip in business. This is being attributed to a number of factors. As businesses make staff redundant they have more pool cars available for the remaining staff use which negates the need to hire cars for ad hoc business travel. In addition to this, at this time businesses are increasingly not replacing all staff leavers, meaning there are fewer new starters. This has reduced the requirement for interim hire of vehicles to bridge the gap between staff starting and receiving their company car. There is also a general decline in business travel meaning fewer requirements for hiring cars. 8 Roadside Assistance and Recovery Roadside assistance and recovery has been affected to some extent by the recession. Larger employers report a slight negative impact of the recession on the whole. Business to business sales have decreased in line with the reduction in new car sales. This means that there are fewer new car breakdowns to attend to. This has been offset to some extent by an increased number of breakdowns occurring as people hold onto their cars for longer. Medium and smaller employers in this sub-sector have reported large decreases in work over the last 18 months which they attribute mainly to decreased road traffic. Originally this was thought to be due to high fuel prices and then to the recession. Other reports suggest that commercial vehicle and truck breakdowns have reduced dramatically because of a reported decrease in deliveries and therefore road traffic. 9 Training 9.1 Apprenticeships There is widespread anecdotal evidence of employers not taking on new apprentices in the coming year due to the recession. This is true of independent garages, dealerships and manufacturers in both the light and heavy vehicle sub-sectors.. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that most prestige car apprenticeship schemes are not planning to take any apprentices on next year. Recent research conducted for the IMI by BMG adds further evidence that the recession is clearly and seriously beginning to affect apprenticeships. A higher proportion of apprentices are now unemployed than was the case when they completed their programmes. 65% of employers surveyed reported negative effects of the recession on their business. 63% did not expect to take on any new apprentices in the new year, over half of which cited the recession as the reason for this. Reports from Scotland suggest that where businesses have had to make apprentices redundant they have been able to transfer onto programme-led apprenticeships. 9.2 Other Training Reports on the effect that the recession is having on investment in training are mixed. There appear to be two groups of employers emerging. The first are employers who believe that now is the time to train. These employers are maintaining or increasing the level of investment in training for their workforce. As business is slower they are using the time gained to train and invest in skills now, so that in busier times they do not have to take staff - 8 -

9 time up training when they could be productive. This way they hope to retain the skilled staff they have and ensure increased productivity when the recession lifts and work picks up. The second group are those employers who view training in skills as an unnecessary spend at this time of recession and are therefore cutting or not investing at all in skills training. 10 Employment in the Automotive Retail Sector There is extensive anecdotal evidence that many businesses in the sector are making widespread redundancies and are not replacing staff who leave their employ. Official data sources show that workforce levels in the sector are declining. Compared with the same quarter last year, employee numbers have declined by 8.4%. This fall is not surprising given the current situation of the UK economy, though the sector has been somewhat harder hit than the UK as a whole. In Jan-Mar 2009 the total number of people in employment in the UK was down just 0.7% compared with the same quarter a year ago.* The figure below depicts the number of employees over time for the UK as a whole and for the automotive retail sector. Overall UK employment has fallen slightly in recent quarters, but the graph demonstrates the considerably more volatile nature of employment within the UK automotive retail sector. Figure 3 UK Total and Automotive Retail Sector Employees Employment 30,000,000 29,500,000 29,000,000 28,500,000 28,000,000 27,500,000 27,000,000 26,500,000 26,000,000 25,500,000 All UK Emp AR Employees 640, , , , , , ,000 25,000, ,000 Jan-Mar 2001Jul-Sep 2002Jan-Mar 2004Jul-Sep 2005Jan-Mar 2007Jul-Sep 2008 Source: LFS quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved *source LFS Q compared with Q1 2009, with adjustment for move from SIC 2003 to SIC 2007 applied

10 11 Redundancy As shown in figure 4, between 2003 and 2007 the redundancy rate 3 within the automotive retail sector 4 fluctuated between 16.0 persons per thousand (ppt) and 28.7 over that time. In the same period the redundancy rate for the UK as a whole followed a slight downward trend from 22.4 to Since 2007, however, as the economic downturn began to have an impact on the economy, there has been a sharp increase in the redundancy rate within the automotive retail sector from 25.7 to The impact of the economic downturn can also been seen in the redundancy rate for the UK as a whole which rose, albeit less steeply, from 17.4 to The chart below shows the redundancy rate for both the automotive retail sector and the UK economy as a whole over the last 6 years. Figure 4 UK Total and Automotive Retail Sector Redundancy Rates Automotive retail sector UK overall Source: LFS. Redundancy Rate Annualised figures calculated from quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved The table below shows the actual numbers of redundancies and the redundancy rates for the automotive retail sector and the UK overall between 2003 and The numbers are annualised and although are apparently exact should only be considered as illustrative. Table 1 UK overall and Automotive retail sector redundancy counts and rates Automotive retail sector Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate (ppt) UK overall Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate (ppt) Source: LFS. Redundancy Rate Annualised figures calculated from quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved Within the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data for the type of businesses that individuals were made redundant from is not available at SIC code level and so the analysis below is carried out at industry division level. The two divisions into which the automotive retail sector falls are wholesale retail trade 3 The redundancy rate is the ratio of the redundancy level for the given year to the annualised average number of employees in the given year, multiplied by 1,000 to provide the number made redundant per 1000 in the working population 4 Source: LFS redundancy rate (note that LFS figures are based on industry divisions. The automotive retail sector constitutes 100% of the Wholesale retail trade repair vehicles division and approximately 28% of the Rental and leasing activities division)

11 and repair of vehicles and rental and leasing activities. The sector accounts for 100% of the wholesale retail trade and repair of vehicles division and approximately 28% of the rental and leasing activities division. The following chart shows the redundancy rates within the automotive retail sector at divisional level. Over the last 6 years the redundancy rate for the wholesale retail trade repair vehicles industry division has generally been lower than the redundancy rate for rental and leasing activities 5 with the exception of The redundancy rate for wholesale retail trade and repair of vehicles division overtook the rental and leasing activities division after Figure 5 Automotive Retail Sector Redundancy Rates by LFS Industry Division Wholesale retail trade repair vehicles Rental and leasing activities IMI proxy Source: LFS redundancy rate (note that LFS figures are based on industry divisions. The automotive retail sector constitutes 100% of the Wholesale retail trade repair vehicles division and approximately 28% of the Rental and leasing activities division). Annualised figures calculated from quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved The table below shows the number of redundancies and the redundancy rates for the LFS industry divisions. Table 2 Automotive retail sector redundancy counts and rates by industry division Wholesale retail trade repair vehicles Redundancy Count 14,790 11,870 16,910 8,600 13,450 22,000 Redundancy Rate (ppt) Rental and leasing activities IMI proxy Redundancy Count 1,150 1, ,180 Redundancy Rate (ppt) Automotive retail sector Redundancy Count 15,940 13,440 17,200 9,410 14,380 23,190 Redundancy Rate (ppt) UK overall Redundancy Count 629, , , , , ,240 Redundancy Rate (ppt) The automotive retail sector constitutes approximately 28% of the rental and leasing activities division within the LFS data so the figures present a proxy value that is 28% of the total for this division in the LFS data

12 Source: LFS. Redundancy Rate Crown Copyright Reserved. Although figures in counts are apparently precise they should be considered indicative. Redundancy rates are calculated using the sum of quarterly redundancy counts and annualised average employment figures. The impact of redundancy has not been evenly felt across the four nations. As seen in table 3 below, in 2008 Wales experienced a high proportion of redundancies. It accounted for 5% of the automotive retail sector workforce but 10% of redundancies. In contrast Scotland accounted a disproportionately low number of redundancies in relation to its proportion of the workforce (-5%). The proportion of redundancies in Northern Ireland was equal to the proportion of the workforce it represents. Table 3 Proportion of redundancies by Region and Nation in 2008 Region & Nation % of Workforce % of redundancies Difference England 85% 84% -1% North East 4% 4% 0% North West 12% 10% -2% Yorkshire & Humberside 9% 12% 3% East Midlands 10% 10% 0% West Midlands 10% 10% 0% Eastern 10% 13% 3% London 7% 4% -3% South East 14% 11% -3% South West 10% 9% -1% Wales 5% 10% 5% Scotland 7% 2% -5% Northern Ireland 3% 3% 0% Source: IMI Workforce Profile & LFS Annualised figures calculated from quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved Within England, the Yorkshire & Humberside and Eastern regions experienced a high proportion of redundancies (+3%) whilst the North West, London, South East and South West regions accounted for a disproportionately low number of redundancies in relation to their proportion of the workforce. The chart below shows the redundancy rates for both the automotive retail sector and the UK industry as a whole for Figure 6 UK Total and Automotive Retail Sector Redundancy Rates England North East North West Yorkshire & Humberside East Midlands West Midlands Eastern London South East South West Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Automotive Retail Sector UK Industry Overall Automotive Retail Sector Average UK Industry Average Source: LFS Annualised figures calculated from quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved Across the four nations, the redundancy rate is higher within the automotive retail sector than the UK, with the exception of Scotland. The redundancy rate within the automotive retail sector in Wales was particularly high when compared to the rate for the UK. The redundancy rate in the automotive retail sector was higher than the UK in all 9 of the English regions

13 The full table of redundancies and redundancy rate for the 4 nations and 9 English regions from 2003 to 2008 is shown in Annex 1. When the distribution of redundancies in the sector is analysed by major occupation, as shown in the table below, it can be seen that the pattern does not reflect the distribution of occupations within the sector. Table 4 Proportion of redundancies by Major Occupation Group* in 2008 Automotive Retail Sector UK Industry Average % workforce % Redundancies Difference % workforce % Redundancies Difference Managers and Senior Officials 20.2% 3.7% -16.5% 15.5% 11.2% -4.3% Professional occupations 1.1% 0.0% -1.1% 13.0% 9.6% -3.4% Associate Professional and 4.8% 3.8% -1.0% 14.7% 12.1% -2.6% Technical Administrative and Secretarial 11.7% 15.1% 3.4% 11.4% 12.5% 1.1% Skilled Trades Occupations 34.2% 45.5% 11.3% 11.0% 12.7% 1.7% Personal Service Occupations 0.1% 1.2% 1.1% 8.3% 6.0% -2.3% Sales and Customer Service Occupations 12.7% 18.2% 5.5% 7.6% 9.4% 1.8% Process Plant and Machine Operatives 9.1% 12.5% 3.4% 7.0% 12.9% 5.9% Elementary Occupations 6.0% 0.0% -6.0% 11.6% 13.5% 1.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% 0.0% 100.0% 100.0% 0.0% Source: IMI Workforce Profile & LFS Annualised figures calculated from quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved * Major Occupation group figures account for about 60% of actual redundancies as not all respondents to LFS provide details for 'last job' and so cannot be allocated to a major occupation group. Figures should therefore be considered indicative rather than absolute Skilled trades, which make up a third of occupations within the sector (34.2%), account for a disproportionately high number of redundancies (45.5%), likewise administrative and secretarial staff, which account for 11.7% of employees, account for more than 1 in 7 redundancies (15.1%). This suggests that, during the recession, businesses in the sector are not able to hold onto their skilled staff. If this trend continues it could potentially have a substantial impact on the sector s ability to come through the recession and capitalise on future opportunities. The loss of skilled personnel at this stage could create skills gaps in the future. The situation in the automotive sector is repeated in the wider UK picture where the proportion of skilled trade redundancies (13%) exceeds the proportion of skilled trade workers in the UK working population (11%). This issue is therefore not limited to the automotive retail sector alone, but it is certainly more acute.. The proportion of managers and senior officials redundancies in the sector is very low (3.7%) when compared to the proportion in the sector (20.2%). The likely explanation for this is due to the sector being comprised of a very high proportion of micro businesses (82%) 6. The proprietor of a micro business would be classed as a manager or senior official and is unlikely to make themselves redundant. 6 Segmenting the Sector report produced for IMI by TBR in June

14 12 Unemployment The claimant count is an unofficial measure of UK unemployment and records the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance (JSA) or national insurance contributions in any given month. Data is available at the SOC 2000 occupational level. This allows analysis of claimant levels, inflows and outflows for some occupations falling under the automotive skills footprint. Although all occupations are covered many automotive occupations fall under more general categories which also include occupations from other sectors. Those codes falling under the automotive retail footprint are listed below and these alone have been included in the claimant count figures for the sector. Table 5 Occupations pertaining to the automotive retail sector by SOC SOC Code Description 1232 Garage Managers & Proprietors 5231 Motor Mechanics, auto engineers 5232 Vehicle body builders & repairers 5233 Auto electricians 5234 Vehicle Spray Painters 8135 Tyre, exhaust & windscreen fitters Having declined through much of 2007 and to mid 2008 the number of people seeking unemployment benefit within occupations covered by the automotive retail sector has increased significantly since July Although employment levels can be affected by seasonal factors the recent upward trend has been marked, reflecting the general slowing in the UK economy. The number of claimants in jobs specific to the automotive retail sector stood at 16,740 in April Comparing the figures to a year earlier, thereby removing the issue of seasonality, the number of jobseekers was 110% higher in April 2009 compared with April A similar trend is exhibited for all occupations within the UK employment market the number of job seekers for the UK as a whole rose 87% in April 2009 compared with the same month a year earlier. Figure 7 UK Total and Automotive Retail Sector Unemployment Monthly Claimant Count ,800,000 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 Claimant Count by month Jan 2005 to Apr ,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 UK Total 1,000, , ,000 10,000 8,000 6, , ,000 All UK AR Occupations (Usual Occ) 4,000 2, January 2005 January 2006 January 2007 January 2008 January 2009 Source: Nomis Labour Market Statistics. Claimant Count Crown Copyright Reserved The general slowdown in the economy has also been reflected in the claimant on and off flows. That is those flowing into the claimant count (ie having become unemployed) and those coming out (ie having

15 found work). In times of economic slowdown there is a tendency for the on and off flows to diverge with the on flows rising above levels of off flows. This trend is exhibited in figure 5 below. Figure 8 UK Automotive Retail Sector Unemployment Monthly Claimant on flows and off flows Claimant Off and On flows 6,000 5,000 4,000 Off flows On flows 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 January 2007 January 2008 January 2009 Source: Nomis Labour Market Statistics. Claimant count on-flows and off-flows Crown Copyright Reserved 13 Vacancies Vacancy data is provided on a monthly basis by the Department for Work and Pensions about vacancies notified to employment service job centres by employers. This information gives a count of the number of vacancies and is broken down by SOC 2000 occupation codes. As with the claimant count figures only those occupations pertaining solely to the automotive retail sector s remit have been included in this analysis (see table 5). As with other employment-related figures the number of vacancies is subject to seasonal variation. It should be noted that this data excludes Northern Ireland and relates to Great Britain as a whole. Figure 9 GB and GB Automotive Retail Sector Vacancies by month 600,000 Vacancies by month Jan 2005 to Apr ,000 No. of Vacancies UK 500, , , , ,000 0 All GB AR Occupations 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 No. of AR Vacancies Source: Nomis Labour Market Statistics. Jobcentre plus vacancies. Crown Copyright Reserved

16 In order to eradicate the problems associated with seasonality the figure below depicts the percentage change in vacancies on a monthly basis compared with the same period in the previous year. The number of vacancies on offer has been significantly lower since August of The latest available figures for April 2009 show the number of vacancies for jobs in the sector down 65% to 1,993 compared with 5,755 in April A similar, though less dramatic fall has been witnessed within UK vacancies as a whole which were down 31% in April 09 compared with the year earlier. Figure 10 Monthly percentage change in the number of vacancies compared with the same month in the previous year GB and GB Automotive Retail Occupations Vacancies % Change 200% 150% 100% AR occupations All GB 50% 0% -50% -100% Source: Nomis Labour Market Statistics. Jobcentre plus vacancies. Crown Copyright Reserved The number of unfilled vacancies has also declined, falling considerably since the middle of In percentage terms total number of live unfilled vacancies was 70% lower in April 2009 compared with the same month a year previously. Figure 11 Automotive retail sector unfilled vacancies by month and duration AR Occupations - Unfilled Vacancies 7,000 6,000 Total Unfilled under 4 wks Unfilled over 4 weeks 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 May-06 Aug-06 Nov-06 Feb-07 May-07 Aug-07 Nov-07 Feb-08 May-08 Aug-08 Nov-08 Feb-09 Source: Nomis Labour Market Statistics. Jobcentre plus vacancies. Crown Copyright Reserved

17 Annex 1 - Redundancy by region and nation The table below shows the redundancy rate for each of the four nations and the 9 regions within England. The rates are based on the annualised number of redundancies and the annualised average number of employees calculated from quarterly published figures. Redundancy rates of <1 indicate that fewer 1 in 500 employees were made redundant. Redundancy rate by region and nation North East 25.1 <1 <1 <1 < North West < Yorkshire & Humberside East Midlands < West Midlands East of England London South East South West < England Wales 26.6 < Scotland <1 < Northern Ireland < < Automotive retail sector Source: LFS. Redundancy Rate Annualised figures calculated from quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved Redundancy rates of <1 indicate that fewer than 1 in 500 employees in that region/ nation were made redundant in a year. The table below shows the actual numbers of redundancies (annualised) and the redundancy rates for each of the four nations and the 9 regions within England 2003 and Redundancy counts are not provided where the redundancy rate is <1 as these figures are not robust. Redundancy count and rate by region and nation North East Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate 25.1 <1 <1 <1 < North West Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate < Yorkshire & Humberside Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate East Midlands Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate < West Midlands Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate East of England

18 Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate London Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate South East Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate South West Redundancy Count < Redundancy Rate < England Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate Wales Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate 26.6 < Scotland Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate <1 < Northern Ireland Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate < < Automotive retail sector Redundancy Count Redundancy Rate Source: LFS. Redundancy Rate Annualised figures calculated from quarterly figures Crown Copyright Reserved Although the numbers are apparently precise should only be considered as illustrative. Redundancy rates of <1 indicate that fewer than 1 in 500 employees in that region/ nation were made redundant in a year. In 2008 the North East had the highest redundancy rate of the 9 English regions, Previously from 2004 to 2007 the region had a redundancy rate of zero. Other regions also show a substantial increase in the redundancy rate since The redundancy rate in the Yorkshire & Humberside in 2008 was more than five that of 2007 (56.6 and 10.5 respectively) and the rate in the East Midlands almost doubled from 20.9 to All regions have seen a rise an increase in redundancy rate since