London and Glasgow leading the way for UK employment growth

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 26 May, 2016

The UK wine and spirits industry has seen employee numbers grow by 1.7 per cent in the last year, with Glasgow and London leading the way in terms of contributions to UK talent.

The data, based on more than 20,000 people in the UK industry on professional networking site LinkedIn, found that Glasgow saw the fastest growth in 2015 with a 17% increase in talent in the city last year, followed closely by London with 16%, Bristol 9.2% and Edinburgh 4%.

The data also revealed that one in ten wine and spirits workers graduated from university in the last three years, with 6.9 per cent of those having a postgraduate qualification.

Geographically, Scotland is leading the way, being home to four of the top five schools generating new graduates in the industry.

Employees in the wine and spirits industry are more active than the average when it comes to job moves: 6% changed roles within the same company in the past year, compared to a UK average of 4%.

Dan Dackombe, director of LinkedIn Talent Solutions said: "This data goes to show there are no half measures when it comes to the UK wine and spirits industry. Traditional wine-producing markets like Australia and France saw faster growth, but the UK was comparable to the US and Italy, and outpaced growth in Argentina and Spain.

"According to HMRC, the number of gin distilleries in the UK doubled in the past six years, with the UK wine industry growing by the same amount in the last 10, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Both these trends would account for the increasing demand for skills in the sector."

UK wine and spirits industry at a glance:

Other industries supplying talent:

· Food and beverage

· Retail

· Consumer goods

· IT

· Marketing and advertising

Most sought-after skills:

· Management

· Marketing strategy

· Sales

Top five schools producing this talent: