From Physical Products to Services & Weightless Products
The word "service" originates from the Old French word "servir", derived from the Latin verb "servire", meaning "to serve" or "to be a slave". We don’t have many slaves nowadays, but we still have plenty of servants; people who provide us with services. If you flick through any historical novel, or biography, you will find that most of the people providing service were actual servants, employed by a single person. Chambermaids, butlers, coachmen, and randy gardeners.The word "service" originates from the Old French word "servir", derived from the Latin verb "servire", meaning "to serve" or "to be a slave". We don’t have many slaves nowadays, but we still have plenty of servants; people who provide us with services. If you flick through any historical novel, or biography, you will find that most of the people providing service were actual servants, employed by a single person. Chambermaids, butlers, coachmen, and randy gardeners.
There were professional service providers, doctors, lawyers, etc., but most of the workers shown in the services column, up to the start of the 20th century, would have been household servants. There were artisanal services; in the countryside were veterinary surgeons, agricultural implement engineers, roof thatchers, etc., and in towns, knife grinders, chimney sweeps, tailors, governesses, and cab drivers. But they made up a small proportion of service workers until the first world war.
| YEAR | SERVICES | PRODUCTION | AGRICULTURE | CONSTRUCTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1841 | 35.05% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 1851 | 32.15% | 40.65% | 21.9% | 5.6% |
| 1861 | 34.65% | 40.85% | 18.8% | 6.1% |
| 1871 | 39.1% | 39.3% | 15.5% | 6.9% |
| 1881 | 40.7% | 39.1% | 13.3% | 6.2% |
| 1891 | 43.25% | 39.75% | 10.7% | 7.5% |
| 1901 | 42.85% | 40.65% | 8.9% | 6.3% |
| 1911 | 43.25% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 1921 | 50.1% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 1931 | 54.1% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 1951 | 49.2% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 1961 | 51.15% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 1981 | 64.15% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 1991 | 70.25% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 2001 | 76.3% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 2011 | 81.85% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |
| 2025 | 83% | 37.15% | 22.3% | 5.3% |