Industry Analysis & Industry Trends
The boom years of the 2000s in the United Kingdom were already creating problems for the repair of leather goods before the 2008 recession led to a near-catastrophic collapse in demand. Over the five years through 2012-13, revenue for repairers is expected to fall at an annual rate of 7.8%, to just £62.3 million. Over the past decade, a cultural shift towards disposability and replacing goods over repairing them has constrained revenue for the repair of shoes, bags and other leather goods.
Beyond that, the immediate effect of the recession was a sharp drop in demand for repair services, followed by some respite... purchase to read more
Industry Report - Industry Investment Chapter
The level of capital intensity is determined by comparing the human and capital equipment factors of production, using wages and depreciation costs as proxies. Comparatively high depreciation costs are indicative of a high level of investment in depreciable assets such as buildings and equipment, and therefore high capital intensity. Conversely, comparatively high wages costs indicate high labour intensity.
Cobblers are high-skilled workers, which respond to specific client needs. Unlike the manufacturers of shoes and leather goods, which use machines to mass produce a uniform product, repair work involves problem diagnosing and hand repairing, which is not necessarily suited to automation... purchase to read more