Business & Retail

Business services are about the administration and other activities for making the exchange of products and services possible. Retail is the sale of goods in shops and online.

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Chemicals

The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metal, fibers, paints, pharmaceutical ingredients, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products.

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Construction

Construction is the process of creating and building infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and railways or a facility such as a home, hospital, or school. Construction starts with planning, design, and financing and continues until the project is built and ready for use. Normally, the job is managed by a project manager, and supervised by a construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer, or project architect. Craft tradespeople such as bricklayers and joiners are essential to the construction sector.

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Creative & Digital

Creative and digital industries and about the creation and development of products and ideas. They include industries such as computer game design, animation, social media, film and TV, graphic design and advertising, music performing arts, libraries, and visual arts.

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Energy

The Energy Sector relates to the production and supply of energy. Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and waves. Renewable energy replaces conventional fuels in four distinct areas, electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, motor fuels, and rural (off-grid) energy services.

The Energy Sector is very closely linked with engineering, manufacturing, and ports and logistics sectors.

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Engineering

Engineering is the application of scientific, social, and practical knowledge in order to invent, design, build, maintain, research, and improve structures, machines, devices, systems, materials, and processes.

The discipline of engineering is extremely broad and encompasses a range of more specialised fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas of applied science, technology, and types of application.

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Food & Agriculture

The food and agriculture sector involves the cultivation of animals, plants, and other life forms to enable us to manufacture food and drink. Think livestock – dairy cows, cattle for beef, sheep for wool and lamb, pigs and poultry. Think crops – wheat, oats, peas, oilseed rape, and grass for your livestock.

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Health & Social Care

Health care is about the treatment and support of medical conditions in hospitals, health centres, and in the community. It includes Dentists and Opticians. Social care is about the care and support of people within the community.

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Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the production of goods from the beginnings as raw materials to after-sales services. Manufacturing today is usually high-tech production on a large scale.  Most manufacturing processes are automated to ensure products meet quality standards and can be produced in large volumes to meet demand. Advanced manufacturing involves the use of technology to improve products and processes.

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Ports & Logistics

Ports have, throughout history, been a place where goods and people arrive or leave the country by sea. Logistics is the management, movement & storage of products. It is about getting the right product to the right place, at the right time. It is also about the movement of people by road, rail, sea and air. It includes postal and courier services. Large companies such as supermarkets run their own logistics while other companies outsource all their logistics to specialist companies.

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Public Sector

Public sector organisations provide a service for everyone: for example education (schools) and security and safety (police and armed forces). These services are paid for via taxation.

(Please note NHS and other health care services are covered with the Health & Social Care sector factsheet).

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Visitor Economy

This sector covers events food and service management, gambling, hospitality services, hotels, pubs, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, self catering accommodation, holiday parks and hostels, tourist services and visitor attractions. Good people skills are essential for most jobs as most roles involve dealing with customers on a daily basis.

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