Leslie Smith

"But their operations gradually became affected by economic turbulence and the emergence of rivals in Hong Kong, where Smith had declined to open a factory because he did not want to sack the Hackney workforce and thought that Chinese craftsmanship would not prove sufficiently skilled. He and Odell responded by cutting their own salaries by 75 per cent to £25,000; "no man is worth £100,000," Smith explained."

Shame to say the obituary goes on to describe the part the unions played in bringing the company down

I remember being allowed to buy a matchbox car those weeks my mother took me to Rawtenstall market all those years ago.

"Smith was also responsible for the welfare of the workforce at their main factory at Hackney Marshes, ensuring that women workers were able to pick up their children from school by conveying them in a fleet of buses."

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