By providing an individual analysis of each of the UK’s leading 208 companies, it has assessed each company’s chances of survival and the steps each could take to charter a path through these choppy times. The analysis found that:
  •481 jobs could go as companies seek to get costs in line with sales
  •As many as three quarters of the firms analysed will need to reduced their head count
 •One of the largest firms could see up to 114 jobs lost alone
  •A fifth of the companies surveyed are already running at a loss
  •Companies need to aim for at least £126,000 sales per employee in order to remain competitive.
Of the 208 firms individually assessed 
•    49 companies, are rated as in danger, currently losing money, are heavily in debt and exposed to their lenders. Some of these firms could see 30% of the workforce go as they try to stay in the market.
•    53 companies need to only ‘tweak’ their business, making small but simple changes to their business will see them maintain their profitability and improve their stability.
•    106 companies are currently leading the market with sales per employee figures of well over £176,000. These super-productive firms are generating over £15,000 worth of profit per employee and are thus well-equipped to see out the next twelve months in good shape.
The Plimsoll Analysis- Leathergoods names those companies in pole position to prosper and those where the combination of poor performance and slowing economy has exposed them as a cheap acquisition. It also includes a future snapshot on each company demonstrating how each might survive this period of consolidation. Copies of the analysis can be obtained for £350, by emailing c.sherwood@plimsoll.co.uk