Hi,
After perusing through TT magazines of the last 55 years, I made a list of companies and products advertised therein and started to wonder what had eventually happened to the companies who supplied component parts and other products which assisted the home, motorcycle industry.
Now this got me thinking, as I was doing some historical research and became increasingly appalled at the Asset stripping & closure of companies by speculators & investors in companies, past and present and the realisation of wealth, irrespective of the needs of working individuals in the industry. in particular the destruction & demolition of and consequent re-development of old industrial premises seemed to transfer wealth in a new and less open sphere of influence.
Today & in the past, many will have suffered at the hands of these tunnelled- vision greed-merchants & interestingly enough, it was on the radio this week, that on average, the super-rich in Britain are 20% richer this week than they were one year ago! But what about your average Joe and Josephine?
Historically, Royal Enfield Redditch, BSA Birmingham; Rootes, Midlands, South & Scotland, Leyland motors Lancashire, Cumbria e.t.c, British Leyland & most recently Rover, Longbridge by BMW, all went this way, closure and sold off and asset stripped. Interestingly enough the story goes that, apparently there was a lot of old spares and old cars on the Longbridge site and because they were considered unsaleable, through no EU kite mark, the spares and vehicles were crushed.
Allied to our industrial demise, it would seem that short-sited Union practices, unambitious and incapable management, poorly trained work-force personnel, lack of investment in plant and machinery, failure to evolve progressively successful products & marketing practices, all progressively led to a catalogue of malpractice and horrors , that it would seem our industries committed Hari-kiri.
But now, this obsession with no other objectivity, than the acquisition of own personal wealth by individuals is astounding to me, as much as its mercilessly promotion in the tabloids.
Industrially speaking, sell-off's, asset stripping, investments abroad for better returns, in particular the Far east, has left us, the bulk of the inhabitants of Britain without an engineering heart-land, impoverished and a much reduced capacity to transfer wealth, to people through work & production. It has also left us nationally, with very little to export abroad to earn currency from other nations and so balance the books.
We are, as a nation, almost/probably, economically bankrupt and will continue to be so, especially as we seem to have become, a glorified market place for, in particular European goods.
Surely, we can make things as good and with a little thought better than our neighbours near and far. Yes, I have owned many foreign vehicles, but of late, the last 10 years , I have become aware of the nightmare of the economic reality of failed Government policy, Local Council complicity to demolition and re-development for housing, often now superfluous and what it means for many impoverished communities, up & down the land, where work and jobs are nigh impossible.
Now, I suppose the new Triumph set-up is highly mechanised and therefore not labour intensive and Norton, likewise. But if more pie is going to fewer individuals, then less of the pie is left for the rest of us and I find that a very sobering thought.
Incidentally if anyone has information on tyre, suspension, oil or electrical companies, I would be interested to receive it, to see if I can further fathom out what went on and how the situation may become rectified, historically, to aid future recovery.
Cheers
JBW
