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The transcript is an interview with Brian Lamb as transcribed by Microsoft Word and summarised by ChatGPT and subject to errors.
Career Progression & Responsibilities
- The speaker describes becoming a weaving manager in his mid-to-late 30s, emphasising that age and experience were crucial for taking responsibility.
- Biggest challenge: handling people—he had to learn how to manage different personalities, knowing when to be firm or supportive.
- Although a personnel department existed, most responsibility for discipline and management rested with him. He handled warnings while higher managers carried out dismissals.
Redundancies & Workforce Management
- Found making people redundant the hardest part, especially with long-serving workers (some 15+ years).
- Sometimes offered voluntary redundancy near retirement age, though many wanted to keep working because they enjoyed it.
- As weaving manager at Stubbins, he oversaw 40–50 staff, including:
- 6 women on winding, supervised by Bernard Cavanna.
- 2 warpers + 2 assistants in warping.
- Weavers on 3 shifts (10–12 per shift, with tacklers and supervisors).
- Responsible for ordering loom parts, liaising with planners, and ensuring production flowed smoothly.
Weaving Processes & Orders
- Mostly wove to order, though sometimes stock pieces were kept for regular customers.
- Looms could handle large beams (500–1000 metres of warp), lasting up to 2–3 months.
- Orders varied from 17–40 metres, depending on paper machine needs.
- Training new staff: 3-month training period, with close supervision. Contracts followed, then annual reviews.
- Reliability, especially timekeeping, was the biggest test of suitability.
Management & Company Changes
- Early years at Porritt Brothers & Austin, later Porritt & Spencer, then Scapa (Blackburn) takeover in the 1970s.
- The culture changed from a family firm (with fun, social activities, Christmas traditions) to a more corporate, efficiency-driven business.
- Later became Uniformal, with further management restructuring.
- Worked with several key managers/directors: Terry Miller, Brian Gisburn, Ian Walsh, and Ivan Fearnhead.
Benefits & Schemes
- Scapa introduced pension schemes, share option schemes, and healthcare for supervisors/managers.
- Share options became popular after initial scepticism.
- Long-service awards: after 25 years, employees received gold watches at formal events (with large gatherings and free bar).
Social & Community Life
- Early years: Christmas sprees, fancy dress bands, charity events.
- Social club organised bowling, football, cricket, though interest declined over time.
- Firm owned significant housing stock (50–60 houses locally plus more at Helmshore) with their own estate manager for maintenance.
- The Cliff (large house) was used by directors for meetings or as residence, staffed by housekeeper, cook, and gardener.
Local & Daily Life
- Porritt’s was a major local employer in Ramsbottom and Stubbins.
- Had its own transport to railway sidings, with goods sometimes sent by passenger train.
- As a warehouse boy, the speaker ran errands, delivering bales, buying cakes, and post orders. Shops and bakeries around Stubbins were an important part of daily routine.
Canteen & Food
- Early canteen: home-cooked meals with daily mains and puddings (e.g., rice pudding, fish & chips on Fridays).
- Later outsourced catering was unpopular, but eventually returned to in-house cooking.
- Staff often sat in regular groups at dinner, but no real class distinctions.
Reflections
- He retired in 1998 at age 63, after decades of service.
- Felt the early years were more personal and enjoyable, while later years became more formal and corporate.
- Nonetheless, he valued the friendships, traditions, and stability the company provided to workers and the local community.
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