Jobs in Huddersfield | Pictures of Huddersfield

Once dubbed the ‘poetry capital of Europe’ for its thriving artistic and creative industries, Huddersfield was the setting for Last of the Summer Wine, Brassed Off! and home of the fictional Royston Valley in The League of Gentlemen. But this is certainly not exclusively a ‘local place for local people’. Indeed, Huddersfield is one of the most ethnically diverse and cultural towns in the country thanks largely to a thriving textiles industry that attracted workers from overseas in their droves throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century’s.

Then and now
Throughout the Middle Ages, Huddersfield developed as a leading centre for the rapidly growing woollen industry to the extent that by the time the Industrial Revolution came to town, the local economy was well-positioned to take full advantage of the new coal-based steam power - along with the new waterways and rail-based transport systems - that would transform this market town into an industrial powerhouse.

Playing to its core strengths and tradition, Huddersfield concentrated on cementing its leading position in the textile trade and was one of the early proponents of new processes such as dying techniques, which saw the town quickly embrace and nurture a new chemical industry. And this success was to prove irresistible to immigrants from the Caribbean and Indian sub-continent, with successive generations opting to stay in the area long after the demise of this staple industry. Indeed, around one-fifth of Huddersfield’s population today derives from ethnic backgrounds.

The boom created by the textiles industry provided a rich legacy of fine Victorian buildings such as the railway station, once described as 'the finest façade of any such building in the country'. Architecturally the town boasts an incredible 1,660 listed buildings - the third highest number in the country. And although the textile industry that made the town what it is has waned, the wider manufacturing sector continues to be a main source of employment in the town.

Indeed, this sector currently employs over 20 per cent of the town’s workforce, with the likes of Cummins, David Brown Group and Hoyer UK providing most of the employment opportunities in this industry.

The public sector also continues to grow, both in terms of health, education and public administration. Huddersfield is the administrative centre for the Borough of Kirklees and is responsible for a population of around 150,000 residents. As such, Kirklees Council, the local NHS and Primary Care Trust, and the University of Huddersfield are the top three employers in the town, whilst the wider public sector accounts for 37 per cent of the workforce.

And hovering between the manufacturing and public sector is the town’s third most important sector that is continuing to drive the local economy, namely retail.

More than 25 per cent of workers in Huddersfield ply their trade in this sector which is seeing a huge amount of growth. And this growth is being stimulated by a number of new developments and regeneration projects underway in the town that include retail, leisure and residential schemes, thereby supporting an increasingly vital construction sector that accounts for 7-10 per cent of vacancies.

Elsewhere, the banking and finance sector is not as prominent in Huddersfield as compared to the national average but, as the town continues to grow and redevelop, its influence is becoming more significant. At present, only 14 per cent of jobs are in this sector.

Huddersfield has developed a reputation as one of the cultural hubs of the UK with a vast array of thespians, artists and creatives that is driving the growth of a new media sector in the town. Indeed, the town is home to seventy media and creative businesses, most of them working with state of the art production and imaging technology.

Key business districts
The Kirklees Media Centre is home to seventy media and creative businesses and is also used to host media and creative events, exhibitions and festivals.
Huddersfield has been the focus of a number of major new out-of-town business park developments, while in the town centre there are a number of significant mixed-use developments in the pipeline.

The key industrial locations in the area are largely found along the river and canal corridor to the south of the town, and the Lindley and Oaks areas to the North. Industry spread further along up to St. Andrews Road area and increasingly along the arterial routes, particularly the A62 Leeds road. Key sites includes Bardley Mills Industrial estate, Field House Business park , Trident Business park and the Leeds Road trade park, within this area there are significant sites which are currently under-utilised by a number of industries including the chemical sector.

Huddersfield has been the focus of a number of major new out-of-town developments, including the Bardley and Pennine Business parks to the north of the town centre, the jubilee Business Park at Grange Moor and development on the former Park Mill Colliery site at Clayton West.

If you're thinking of moving to the area, take a look at some of the current property available to buy or let in Huddersfield.

Take a closer look
A picture is worth a thousand words. You can see some images from in and around Huddersfield below.

Looking for local vacancies? See all current jobs in Huddersfield or find out more information on the local area.