"The textile industry has been in steady decline for many years. True, there have been peaks that bucked the trend, but it is the external changes that have influenced the industry.

"The miniskirt heralded the demise of pre and post-boarding in the stocking trade, with fully-fashioned and seams beating a retreat. Easy-care polyesters and polyamides undermined long-established Nottingham names such as Ashwell's, Weldon's, and Trotman's.

"Idi Amin's expulsion of Ugandan Asians brought a cheaper labour force to Leicester and Bradford, quickly exploited, before turning the tables by opening their own factories.

"A dying industry does not attract new graduates. Old skills are lost. New technology and the accountant rule. In a shrinking world importing becomes easy. The industry is left with die-hards, entrepreneurs, and industrial museums."