There are marked contrasts between Tiverton parish and the remaining parishes in terms of economic activity. The WEBNET PROJECT seeks to place businesses in the Exe Valley area on the ‘virtual’ map, penetrating the hurdles of economic isolation, and introducing user-friendly IT skills training in an accessible location.
9 . 2 . 1 Tiverton parish has 13,003 people in the age group 16 – 74, of which 8,651 or 66.5% are economically
active.
9.2.2 In the remaining parishes, 10,143 people fall within the age group 16 -74, of which 7,317 or 67.5% are economically active.
9.2.3 There are some significant contrasts between Tiverton parish and the other parishes in the market town area, notably in the higher proportion of self-employed in the rural areas.
9.2.4 The total number of jobs in 2004 was 23,850, an increase on previous years.
Sector characteristics
9.2.5 In 2004, both manufacturing and the wholesale retail trade employed 20.3% of the workforce in each sector in Tiverton parish, representing 40.6% of the workforce. In the remaining parishes, these percentages were close to the County averages at 12.8% and 14.6% respectively, representing 27.4% of the workforce. The Tiverton Parish figure is above the average for England (14.8% for manufacturing and 16.9% in wholesale and retail trading).
9.2.6 In the remaining sectors, Tiverton parish has 3.3% employed in agriculture, hunting and forestry while the percentage for the remaining parishes is 12.4%, significantly above the Mid Devon average (7.2%), the Devon average (4.6%) and the English average (1.5%).
9 . 2 . 7 The percentage employed in hotels and catering for the market town area is significantly below the Devon County average (6.6%) and England average (4.7%) at 4.1%. Further information on tourism employment is provided in Section 11.1.6.
9 . 2 . 8 In the other sectors, employment in the Tiverton market town area is close to the Mid Devon, Devon County and English averages.
9.2.9 To some extent, the proportion of businesses parallels the main features of the employment statistics,
with the wholesale and retail trade accounting for 4.2% of the businesses in Tiverton and 6.4% in the rural areas, and manufacturing accounting for 4.3% across the market town area. Real estate, renting and associated business activities account for 11.7% of the businesses in Tiverton and 8.8% of businesses in the rural area, reflecting the smaller numbers of employees in these businesses by comparison with manufacturing and the large retailers.
Business size by employee
9 . 2 . 1 0 Most businesses employ less than 4 employees (348 in Tiverton Town and 346 outside the town). Businesses employing 5 or more are increasingly concentrated in the town. Tiverton has over twice the number of businesses employing 5-49 employees than the rural area (5-9 employees: 120 compared with 56; 10-24 employees: 98 compared with 50; 25-49 employees: 25 compared with 10). All businesses employing over 50 are located in the town (25).
Percentage of businesses by Standard Industrial Classification (2004) Source: Annual Business Inquiry
9.3 Tiverton market town skills and qualifications
9.3.1 Mid Devon is well below the regional and national averages in the percentage of professionals as a proportion of economically active residents. In December 2005, there were 3,100 in professional occupation (8.7% of the economically active population) compared with a regional average of 15.2% and a national average of 14.9%. There are no figures for the Tiverton market town area, but it is likely that these would show an even lower percentage. There is a ‘brain drain’ of local youngsters that gain professional qualifications away from the
area in search of jobs that match their qualifications.
9.3.2 When these figures are added to associate and technical workers, and managers and senior officials,
the percentage professionals comes close to the regional and national averages (41.1% compared with 40.3% and 41.6% respectively). Associate professional and technical workers in Mid Devon numbered 4000 in December 2005, slightly below the regional and national average (11.3% compared with 13.2% and 14.2% respectively). Managers and senior officials, on the other hand, formed 21.4% of the workforce (7,500) for Mid Devon, significantly higher than the south west regional average of 15.2% and Great Britain average of 14.9%, reflecting the significance of industrial businesses in the area.
The Exe Valley Plan -
