Jobs in Walsall | Pictures of Walsall

Forming one quarter of the once industrial heartland of the West Midlands’ so-called Black Country along with Wolverhampton, Dudley and Sandwell, Walsall has one of the most diverse economies in the region. Indeed, given its historical refusal to be typecast as a coal, iron or leather industry, Walsall has long been dubbed the ‘town of a hundred trades’.

With a population of 171,000 with the wider borough having a population of over 250,000, Walsall’s local economy has been given a significant boost in recent years with more than half a billion pounds in investment for regeneration which has reignited the jobs front and seen the town’s successful transition from one that was wholly dependent on industry, to one that is led by the service economy.

Then and now
Throughout the Middle Ages, Walsall thrived as an important market town centred on an agricultural economy that sustained it for many centuries. However, the area also had good supplies of coal, ironstone and limestone which stimulated the growth of the light metalwork industries producing practical goods such as belt buckles, spurs and bags.

Indeed, Walsall still manufactures the Queen's handbags, and Walsall leather products have been found as far afield as Italy. And when the Industrial Revolution came to town, these small industries were encouraged to grow on a massive scale that prompted the construction of a number of factories, foundries, ironworks and coal mines that saw Walsall rapidly become a fully fledged member of the Black Country industrial powerhouse of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The town’s population soon expanded, first doubling and then tripling by the close of the nineteenth century. And as the coal mines ran dry, the leather trade soon took prominence and Walsall became a world centre for the production of leather goods, hence the nickname of Walsall Football Club, ‘The Saddlers’.

However, the decline of many of the traditional industries that buoyed Walsall’s economy for over two hundred years affected the town hard and Walsall has spent the last twenty years repositioning itself as a post-industrial service economy. By exploiting its excellent infrastructure with excellent road, rail and air transport links - such as the M6 motorway which runs through the Borough - as a selling point with which to attract inward investment to the town, Walsall will have benefited from around half a billion pounds’ worth of investment by 2010 – predominantly from the private sector.

The resourcefulness that has enabled Walsall’s manufacturing base to adapt to the demands of a changing economy has likewise fuelled a buoyant service sector.

In fact, more than half the borough’s employment is now in sectors identified as those offering the most promising future, including retail, distribution, education, IT and business services. However, despite the overall decline of the manufacturing sector both locally and nationally, the fields of manufacturing, engineering and light industry continue to be a major provider of jobs in Walsall.

Indeed, around 1 in 5 (21 per cent) of the local workforce is employed in the wider manufacturing sector, compared to 11 per cent nationally. Reflecting its rich manufacturing heritage, Walsall is home to over 1,000 trades, supplying a vast range of high quality goods and services to UK and international markets with a number of notable achievement such as producing trains for the Moscow underground, locks for Windsor Castle and a fleet of Boeing 777s. And one of the leading employers in this sector is Caparo Industries Plc.

Being the administrative centre for a Borough that has over 250,000 residents, Walsall’s public sector is now the mainstay of the local economy employing approximately 23 per cent of the workforce. The areas of public administration, education health provide the majority of job opportunities with Walsall Council, Walsall Hospital NHS Trust and Walsall Housing Trust being the three biggest employers in the town with 11,000, 3,100 and 700 staff respectively.

Equally significant in employment terms is the distribution, hotels and restaurant sector which also accounts for 23 per cent of all jobs in the area. Indeed, the massive investment that has taken place in recent years has created a number of new jobs within the commercial sector to the extent that this sector is now represented by over 3,000 companies – more than any other sector in Walsall. Some of the major employers within this sector include T & S Stores Plc, Homeserve, Dillons Newsagents Ltd and TK Maxx distribution depot.

Against the backdrop of regeneration and inward investment is an increasingly influential financial sector that employs approximately 16 per cent of the workforce within more than 1,500 banking, financial and insurance firms. Whilst the energy and water industries are fast-becoming significant employers in the region, along with the transport, communications and construction sector.

Key business districts
In the absence of a recognised central business district in Walsall, there are a number of business parks throughout the Borough, including Town Wharf Business Park which incorporates the New Art Gallery plus an enviable retail park, and Walsall Business Centre which is one of the largest business centres in Walsall.

And there are plans to redevelop the derelict land in nearby Darlaston and turn it into a state-of-the-art regional hub. Elsewhere, there is a business corridor between Bloxwich and Walsall where TK Maxx has recently opened a regional depot alongside Homeserve plc and South Staffordshire Water.

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

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

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