Against a backdrop of falling vacancies and rising unemployment, business confidence in the UK labour market remains low.

The UK labour market is facing mounting pressures as businesses grapple with rising costs, regulatory changes and an increasingly challenging economic environment, the annual Confederation of British Industry-Pertemps Employment Trends Survey revealed.
Business confidence in the labour market is  low.
Companies are warning that the cumulative cost of doing business is a major threat to competitiveness.

Companies are warning that the cumulative cost of doing business is a major threat to the United Kingdom’s current and future competitiveness with jobs, investment and future pay rises at risk.

Eight-six per cent of respondents believe the UK labour market is a less attractive place to invest and do business compared to five years ago, with 54 per cent ranking it as ‘much less’ attractive; 82 per cent expect this trend to continue.

Labour costs rank as the top threat to current labour market competitiveness and was selected by 73 per cent of respondents. The impact of employment regulation on flexibility ranked second (65 per cent), followed by access to skills (58 per cent).

The main drivers of concern about the cost of employing people are national insurance contributions (NICs) and costs coming from the Employment Rights Bill (selected by 69 per cent and 53 per cent of respondents respectively), a CBI release said.

Seventy-eight per cent believes the bill will hit growth, investment, jobs and discretionary employee benefits. This concern has grown since last year when half of firms (54 per cent) were worried.

Twenty-seven per cent of respondents expect their organisation will be smaller than it is today in twelve months’ time, slightly more than the proportion intending to grow (26 per cent).

Taken together, the increase in NICs and the past three National Living Wage increases add up to an additional cost of over £24 billion for businesses each year.

Seventy-three per cent respondents believe labour costs are a threat to current UK labour market competitiveness. This is the first time that labour costs have ranked as the top threat to labour market competitiveness since the question was first surveyed.

Sixty-nine per cent identify the recent NICs rise as one of the top three biggest cost threats to UK labour market competitiveness, followed by the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill (53 per cent).

Businesses want to see government build a consensus about how to deliver the Employment Rights Bill so that it supports growth.

The survey also highlights how the current approach to growth and skills levy reform is hurting businesses’ ability to invest in skills and deliver training. Sixty-seven per cent believe that the absence of a clear road map for eligible training courses will hinder workforce planning.

Half of the respondents believe that continued rigidity in the levy is stopping their organisation from being able to deliver training to address skills gaps.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

This initiative from ONLY underscores BESTSELLER’s strategic focus on reducing the need for virgin materials, including polyester. The project is a collaborative effort between ONLY, materials textile-to-textile recycling company RE&UP, and Turkish garment supplier Deniz.

Bestseller’s ONLY has partnered with RE&UP and Deniz to create garments using textile-to-textile recycled polyester and cotton from worn-out clothes and factory waste.
The project reduces virgin polyester usage while maintaining performance and durability, aligning with Bestseller’s focus on scalable, innovative recycling solutions for its popular NOOS and other collections.

Several of BESTSELLER’s major brands are actively integrating recycled materials into their existing collections, including the popular “Never Out Of Stock” (NOOS) range, known for its classic, timeless basics that transcend seasons and trends.

This enables us to create garments made from worn-out clothing and factory textile waste, while offering the same performance and durability as if it were made from virgin polyester. Pernille Tøttrup Sourcing Process Manager, ONLY.

Ideally, recycled polyester is sourced from textile-to-textile recycling processes. BESTSELLER is investing in and partnering with several innovative technology companies in this field to ensure both innovation and scalability.

RE&UP, specialised in next-gen textile-to-textile recycling, uses a combination of mechanical and thermo-chemical processes. Their modular technology is capable of separating cotton and polyester and regenerating them into ‘new’ high-quality recycled cotton and recycled polyester.

Innovation and quality

“RE&UP shares our dedication to innovation and quality, and their textile-to-textile recycled polyester meets the high standards we set for our products. This enables us to create garments made from worn-out clothing and factory textile waste, while offering the same performance and durability as if it were made from virgin polyester,” says Pernille Tøttrup, Sourcing Process Manager at ONLY.

In the initial production run, 11 styles have been converted from conventional polyester to RE&UP next-gen recycled polyester. This equates to more than 100,000 t-shirts. RE&UP is currently scaling its capacity, with the ambition to process 1 million tonnes of textile waste by 2030.

“This collaboration shows that textile-to-textile recycling is not a distant ambition, it’s already delivering industry-ready, cost-competitive fibres. Transforming the industry is undoubtedly a complex and lengthy process, but by working with partners like ONLY, we demonstrate how recycled polyester from textile waste can be a real and scalable alternative to virgin materials,” says Ozgur Atsan, CCO at RE&UP.

150,000 jackets

Earlier this year, BESTSELLER menswear brand JACK & JONES also successfully converted a NOOS bumper jacket to recycled polyester made from textile waste. This involved their best-selling style ‘Rush’, translating to 150,000 garments.

“We are actively reshaping our approach to materials, prioritising a shift from conventional to organic cotton and from virgin to recycled polyester,” explains BESTSELLER’s Head of Sustainability, Dorte Rye Olsen. She adds:

“In an ideal world, all textiles would become part of a circular production system once they are worn out. Here, we see examples of how this can be achieved. At the same time, we are aware that there is still a long way to go. Therefore, alongside exploring and investing in textile-to-textile solutions, we’re currently also expanding our use of recycled materials from other waste feedstocks.”

Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)