General   (General discussion, talk about anything.)

It wasn’t so much that the UK lost its position as a major global manufacturer but that others caught up and eventually surpassed the UK.
In 1860 there were over 2500 cotton mills in Lancashire employing close to half a million workers. The vast production of cotton sheeting from the Lancashire mills was such that the output was measured in miles. In India today bed sheeting is still referred to as Lancashire sheeting.
Some time later the textile machinery manufacturer Mather and Platt began a major export drive. The availability of cheap Asian labour and up to date machinery signalled the demise of the UK export markets for cotton sheeting.
The Japanese car industry began in earnest with Austin 7s made under licence from the Austin motor company.
And so on.