Executive Summary

Key Note estimates that the total market for protective clothing and equipment was worth £766.2m at manufacturers' selling prices (msp) in 1999, a rise of 2.5% on 1998. Over the long term, demand for protective clothing and equipment has remained fairly flat, with fluctuations resulting from cycles in the level of employment.

The market includes workwear and protective clothing (e.g. trousers, jackets, ensembles, aprons, smocks, tabards and boilersuits); safety, protective and other industrial footwear; medical and industrial gloves; head, face, eye and ear protection; respiratory protection and breathing apparatus; and other equipment, such as back supports, fall-arrest harnesses and lifejackets for occupational use. Much of the market falls into the personal protective equipment (PPE) category, as defined by EU regulations, but some workwear, mainly clothes worn for corporate identification, falls outside this scope.

Despite the increasing strictness of regulations governing workplace safety, this trend is, to some extent, countered by improvements in industrial processes which eliminate some of the hazards. In July 1995, the market received a boost when the European Directive on PPE came into force. The timing of this Directive coincided with relatively good employment trends in many industries, as companies recovered from the effects of the early-1990s recession. Figures available for 1999 suggest that this period of growth is coming to an end.

There is a high level of product innovation, not only to enhance the protective capabilities of products, but also to improve product lifetime, user comfort, freedom of movement and appearance. The concern for fashionable appearance is already well established in mainstream workwear and safety footwear, and some brands have achieved this to such an extent that they have expanded into the consumer leisure market, e.g. Dr Martens and Caterpillar. Attention to styling of protective equipment such as earmuffs and safety spectacles is relatively recent.

Competition from foreign manufacturers intensified between 1996 and 1999, partly as a result of common European standards and partly owing to the strength of sterling, which puts UK manufacturers at a disadvantage in both home and export markets. Several of the leading UK manufacturers have increased the amount of production outsourced to factories in the Far East or southern Europe. Some companies that were established as UK manufacturers have turned entirely to supplying foreign-manufactured products. This trend to outsourcing was particularly noticeable in 1998 and 1999, and has continued into 2000.

Another trend which developed in the 1990s was for manufacturers of workwear or shoes to widen their activities by supplying other products on a third-party basis. This enables them to offer existing customers a `head-to-toe' service.

Key Note forecasts a decline in the market, at constant prices, in 2000 and 2001, bringing market value to £745m. Thereafter, sales are expected to remain stable to 2004.

More Information

  Denotes a required field.