Jobs in Lichfield | Pictures of Lichfield

Despite only having a population of 31,000, Lichfield is technically a city and is one of seven civil parishes with city status in England. Located in south Staffordshire and on the border of the Black Country Lichfield’s heritage is not one based on black soot and heavy industry but on philosophy, a centre for pilgrimage and tourism.

Then and now
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries Lichfield flourished as a busy coaching city for merchants travelling from the south and east en route to Ireland via Liverpool – then the biggest exporting port in the world. And at about the same time, it became a centre for intellectual activity, stimulated by the likes of local man Dr. Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language, who later described Lichfield as ‘a city of philosophers’ – an epithet that would further stimulate the luxury trade of bookselling, already important in the late 17th century.

But while the ensuing Industrial Revolution consumed all in its path, sweeping through the Midlands, industrialisation affected Lichfield on a lesser than its Walsall and Wolverhampton neighbours whose economies were radically transformed into heavy manufacturing centres. And by the turn of the twentieth century, the city developed an extensive light industry and a growing emphasis on the tourism trade, whilst focusing on establishing itself as a residential area through a period of substantial home building that saw its population more than triple from the 1950s to the late 1980s.

Today, Lichfield’s economy is relatively unchanged. Whilst the rest of the Midlands has had to reposition itself as a post-industrial service economy, the changes in Lichfield were less dramatic. Indeed, the light manufacturing industry in Lichfield continues to play a significant role in the local economy and has not succumbed to the rapid decline of the heavy manufacturing sector that has affected many towns in this region – testament to this is the expansion of Fradley Industrial Estate and further development around the Burntwood/Chasetown area.

As such, Lichfield has a much higher level of manufacturing employment than nationally and this sector is the third most important employer in the city with approximately 6,800 workers (17.2 per cent of the workforce) making their living with a number of companies, such as Armitage Shanks, manufacturers of baths, toilets and showers, Norgren Martonair Limited, GKN Sinter Metals and Arthur Price of England, master cutlers and silversmiths.

However, the tourism sector continues to be the mainstay of the Lichfield economy. The city has is home to a number of nationally and internationally renowned attractions, which attract large numbers of visitors such as the Cathedral – one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe.

Although only 3,000 or so people are employed directly in tourism, the wider retail, distribution and restaurants/hotels sector – of which tourism is part – is the biggest employment area in Lichfield, responsible for around 10,000 jobs. Indeed, it is predicted that the new Friarsgate retail and leisure development could attract 11,000 more visitors to the city every month, generating annual sales of around £61m and creating hundreds of jobs in the city.

Being the administrative centre for a city with a population of 31,000 and a region district populated by some 91,000, it follows that the public sector should be a significant contributor to the local economy. With almost 9,000 employees (22 per cent of the workforce) in the fields of education, health and public administration, the public sector is the second biggest employer in the region.

And propping up the rear in employment terms is the financial services and IT sectors, which provides around 6.500-7,000 jobs in the local area with Police Mutual Assurance -the police service's very own financial services organization – being the main employer in this sector.

Elsewhere, the emerging creative industries sector are being given a boost with developments in Lichfield city centre, such as City Wharf providing opportunities for the diversification of the economy.

Lichfield is an important commercial centre for the surrounding area. The main local employment is in the retail and service sectors of the economy, but there are also several large modern industrial estates, important for general and light engineering. Communications are excellent with the A38 dual carriageway providing direct links to the motorway network in all directions, so enabling businesses to take full advantage of the City's prime location in the centre of the country.

Key business districts
Between 1946 and the 1990s a number of industrial estates were built across the east side of the town. Drayton Manor Business Park is one of the biggest sites and is home to a number of leading distributors and food industries, including Peter’s Foods, Buckingham Foods, CPP and Foresco Foundry International.

Whilst Elmhurst Business Park and Chasewater Heaths Business Park are significant sites with the latter being home to ITW Highland (car components) and Spanish company Maier UK Ltd.

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

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

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