Knitting Together

The Heritage of the East Midlands Knitting Industry

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Mergers and takeovers 1960-Present

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Documents in Mergers and takeovers 1960-Present

A new way of living
The 1960s saw the post war baby-boom generation come of age, complete with new expectations and aims for life. Previous decades had seen the controls and rationing of wartime Britain gradually removed. Prosperity increased and people were able to buy an expanding range of consumer goods. Televisions, washing machines, cars and many other goods, previously unavailable or unaffordable to a large part of the population, were being bought to improve the lifestyle of families.  More >>

Seamless succeeds
Since the introduction of the wide frame in the late eighteenth century, the traditional fully-fashioned sector of the knitting industry faced competition from cheaper products. Wide frames were used to produce a knitted fabric that was cut into the shape of a garment and sewn together. The Luddites protested against cut-ups and complained that they were inferior garments. In the middle of the nineteenth century, circular knitting machines produced continuous tubes of fabric of various diameters. Large tubes were cut up like wide frame fabric, while small tubes were finished to form stockings, socks and other objects.  More >>

Joining forces
British companies, since the nineteenth century, had faced increasing competition from overseas. Germany, Italy, the USA, and other countries with growing knitting industries, started to impact on the sales made by British manufacturers. The development of the Italian machine building industry, the availability of cheap labour and EEC grants, led to the development of a significant knitting industry in Italy. Cheap Italian goods sold across Europe and the USA.  More >>

The decline of the knitting machine building industry
The 1950s was a busy decade for the British knitting machine building industry as companies replaced old worn out machines and invested in new machines. The Bentley Engineering Co. Ltd emerged during this period as the largest knitting machine company in the world with a staff of 4,000. Takeovers gave the company control of Wildt & Co. Ltd, William Cotton Ltd, G. Blackburn & Sons Ltd, William Hammond & Son Ltd, J.T. & C. Grudgings Ltd, G. Woodcock & Sons Ltd, T. Grieve & Co. and Clarendon Eng. Co. Ltd. The company continued to expand and had 9,000 staff by 1970. Rival firm G. Stibbe & Co. Ltd also expanded to own S. A. Monk Ltd, and I. L. Berridge Ltd; it employed 2,550 staff in 1969.  More >>