Textile Manufacture in the UK

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It was Fashion student who this week asked me in the Park Square LRC to help find some information on the decline of the British textile industry. It was an unusual request because the student wanted to look at this topic over a long period, and not just the state of the industry now.

There were several articles on Business Source Premier, but in a way these were a little too detailed. Newsbank database was better for this purpose. Many of the Financial Times stories included a historical overview of the topic.

Here are a couple of facts which charted the decline :
(a) As long ago as 1990 one hundred jobs were lost each day in the UK textile industry
(b) Compare this with the 1900's when 25% of the world's textile trade was UK based

My keywords "textile industry", decline and britain ( in three separate search boxes )

The State of the Economy

Facing a long train journey on Monday I bought a couple of newspapers ( I can usually manage the Daily Express Crossword, and complete about three clues from the Telegraph )

Look at the difference in the stories on the economy though ( both based on the same sets of government figures )The Express talks of modest growth ( falling inflation, rising house prices ) and the Daily Telegraph repeats a comment made when Labour left power that there was no money left.

The next Budget is on March 21st. Should be interesting to see how that gets reported in the UK Press.

Me in a Suit ( Made in Britain )

Well fancy that, with a family wedding coming up I've managed to squeeze into my suit. I last wore this to Chris Whitfield's wedding over 2 years ago. Chris is another of the academic liaison librarians here at Luton.

Even more surprises were in store when we found out that not only the suit but also Kathy's wedding outfit were made in the UK. In fact the dress which Kathy ordered online was made right here in Luton ( by Alexon Brands Limited ). It's hung up behind me in the photograph. Alexon - Eastex based in Guildford Street seems to be prospering quite nicely, and is one of the town's oldest firms.

Needing only a posh hat now we ended up in a shop which stoked boaters also made in Luton ( by the Olney Hat Company )Hardly suitable for a wedding though.

Who says UK manufacturing is dead !

Wonder of Woollies

Hearing a programme on Radio 4 the other day reminded me that a good measure of the current state of the UK economy might be the number of unoccupied Woolworths stores.

The store in Bedford (pictured) is still empty. In Luton M & S moved into the former Woolworth store well before the collapse.

In my home town of Sleaford ( Lincs ) a company called Yorkshire Trading Company seems to be doing brisk business. It's a bit like Wilko's....