Jobs in Stoke-on-Trent | Pictures of Stoke-on-Trent

The city of Stoke-on-Trent is at the centre of Staffordshire’s industrial heartland and is the amalgamation of the six towns of Hanley, Burslem, Longton, Stoke, Tunstall and Fenton with Stoke eventually chosen as the seat of power when the city was created in 1910 - despite the fact that Hanley, and indeed Burslem, had been far better established since Edwardian times.

And the legacy of this disgruntlement lives on today with most locals referring to ‘The Potteries’ when describing the various towns rather than the official title ‘Stoke-on-Trent’.

Then and now
The city’s history is intimately bound up with that of the ceramics industry; hence the epithet, ‘The Potteries’. The production of pottery in the area dates back to the 1600s when vast areas of clay, salt and lead (for glazing) were discovered and exploited to form a somewhat modest pottery trade.

However, the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal – which enabled the shipment of china clay from Cornwall to Staffordshire together with other materials – facilitated the production of creamware and bone china and transformed the pottery business from a cottage industry into a fully fledged factory-based industry, spearheaded by the likes of Wedgewood, Spode , Minton and the world-famous Royal Doulton. Soon, this area of Staffordshire would become the leading pottery producing centre in the world – a position it still retains.

At the same time coal mining, iron and steel-making – and later rubber - production were boosted with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and these sectors continued to play a significant role in the local economy until the second half of the twentieth century until Stoke was compelled to seek new economic drivers in a post-industrial service economy.

While coal and steel production have effectively disappeared from the industrial landscape and tyre manufacturing is only a shadow of its former self, the ceramic industry continues to be one of the area’s largest employers despite significant contraction in recent years.

That said, the manufacturing sector in Stoke is the eighth largest in the UK and continues to be the main source of employment in the city, accounting for around 28 per cent of all jobs in the area – almost double the national average. Tyre manufacturer Michelin, for instance, has made the city its UK administrative headquarters and despite significant lay-offs at the turn of the new millennium, the company remains a major employer in the area.

Being the administrative centre that is responsible for a population of over 240,000 people, the areas of public administration, health and education play a significant role on the job front. Indeed, the City of Stoke-on-Trent Council is the biggest single employer in the area with over 14,000 employees which, along with the likes of Stoke-on-Trent Primary Care Trust and the University Staffordshire, are part of a wider public sector that employs more than 32,000 people in some sort of capacity.

Stoke’s diverse economy boasts a range of traditional and modern industries, from being home to the likes of Bet365 and Caudwell Communications (also known as the Phones4U Group) to Alton Towers theme park and Trentham Gardens. Indeed, is it is the latter that is at the forefront of the city’s strong retail, restaurants, hotel and distribution sector, which employs almost 1 in 5 of the workforce (around 24,000 people) in the area.

Along with the aforementioned Alton Towers, the presence of firms such as Royal Doulton and Wedgewood draw thousands of tourists to the city every year and help to sustain more than 7,000 jobs across the city. And with a £1.5bn regeneration budget being spent in redeveloping many parts of the city in terms of new housing, leisure and retail projects, thereby increasing its appeal for visitors and the business community, the construction sector is also increasingly becoming a major employer, with over 7,000 workers plying their trade in this sector.

Key business districts
In common with most manufacturing-based areas, there are a significant number of industrial and business parks dotted throughout the wider city area, such as Great Fenton Business Park, Shelton Enterprise Centre, Holdcroft and Trinity Business Centres and the Business Innovation Centre.

But on the whole, Burslem, Tunstall and Longton are the main centres for the manufacturing centre. Whereas the centre of Hanley is primarily the commercial and central business district, whilst Stoke is the administrative centre for the City.

A growing retail park is Festival Park which is still developing with an increasing number of units are being created to meet the demand from businesses looking to relocated to the area. Indeed, many banks have opened offices on the estate now to be available to those that work on the estate.

The city council is continuing to work in partnership with landowners and government agencies to accommodate new and expanding businesses by providing high quality, strategic employment sites which to date have created nearly 4000 new jobs and over 2 million sq ft of new office, industrial, distribution and leisure floor space.

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

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

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