Barrow shipyard provides high value added employment for 5,100 people in South West Cumbria. The fortunes of the shipyard have changed remarkably since the loss of 600 jobs there in 2003 and 720 in 2004 which took employment down to just below 3,000.
Barrow Travel to Work Area has a resident population of around 100,000 people.
The workforce totals around 36,000 people.
A third of the area’s job opportunities disappeared in the 1990s. Rt Hon John Hutton MP for Barrow and Furness told the House of Commons:-
“In my constituency 10,000 jobs were lost in the shipyard in five years and there was little effective regional industrial policy to sustain the hugely valuable skill-base in the Barrow and Furness constituency.” (Source: Rt. Hon. John Hutton MP, Minister of State for Health, Hansard, 10th October 1998).
Manufacturing sustains a significant part of Barrow’s economy – 23% of jobs are in manufacturing, naval shipbuilding and naval undersea warfare systems support with 5,100 people employed directly in Barrow shipyard at BAE Systems. The multiplier effect of that employment (1.96) supports almost another 6,000 jobs.
To find out more about the Barrow and Furness area see www.barrowbc.gov.uk, www.barrow.furness.co.uk and www.furnessenterprise.co.uk
