Limited Bradford Dyers Association

BRADFORD DYERS' ASSOCIATION, LIMITED, a great combination of British firms engaged in the dyeing of fabrics. In a normal year, the association treats 500 million yards of cloth, or enough to wrap round the earth 12 times. The works are equipped for the dyeing and finishing of cotton, wool, mohair, silk and artificial silk fabrics, and the business is entirely done on Commission, none of the goods handled being owned by the asso ciation. During the association's existence, the processes and methods of dyeing and finishing have been largely revolutionized. Dyeing has been raised to the dignity of a fine art. The pooling of experience and co-ordination of effort consequent on the organiza tion of the combine have counted for much.

Agreements with Workers.

The association in 1899 made a working agreement with the trade-unions concerned covering the major portion of the employes and providing inter alia for the establishment of a reference board, composed of an equal number of representatives of employers and employes, to which all differ ences should in case of need be referred, with a provision for arbi tration. This practice of making agreements governing working conditions with the trade-unions has continued a feature of the association's development, and the agreements current in 1927, in addition to the reference board and arbitration provision, include clauses providing for the employment of trade-union labour only (with certain specified exceptions) ; collective piecework, with a guarantee that piece-rates will enable earnings to be made of not less than 25% above time rates; the payment of a penalty of £1 per man in the event of any breach by either party of any of the pro visions of the agreement (the proceeds of which penalties are devoted to charitable purposes) ; scales of minimum wages ad vancing according to age; a sliding scale for periodical adjustment of wages with the cost of living; a works council at each branch, composed of representatives elected by the workers and repre sentatives nominated by the management, with co-ordination by quarterly conferences of the branch works councils.

Rewards for Ideas.

The company has a system of rewards for ideas submitted by employes; an employes' bonus system by which employe-share-holders receive in addition to their divi dends a bonus depending on the amount of the ordinary dividend (3,75o employees held 68o,000 shares in 1927) ; a savings fund whereby the workers are helped to purchase shares; superannua tion funds on a joint contributory basis for both staff and opera tives; pensions funds for premature incapacity; educational train ing schemes ; a staff guild embracing the whole of the managers, technicians, travellers, clerks and foremen, and serving as the channel of approach between these employes and the association; benevolent funds ; casualty and fighting force funds (arising out of the World War) ; and organizations for sports and social activ ities. These arrangements have been made in a trade in which, prior to the inauguration of the association, the operatives were in a low grade as regards both remuneration and status.

The economies aimed at in the formation of the combine have been secured ; co-ordination of control has brought with it not only increased efficiency in business management, but a better technique. Much of the success of the association has arisen out of its organizations for scientific and technical research, experi mental work, etc.; its co-operation with manufacturers and mer chants in new productions and in the exchange of information ; and its arrangements for the study of world markets and advertising.

The association was formed in 1898 and originally combined 2 2 businesses; subsequent amalgamations have raised the number of dyeworks to 2g. The central administration is at Bradford, and the branches are scattered over a wide area, 21 being in Yorkshire, 7 in Lancashire and Cheshire, and r in Scotland. On Jan. I 1927, the issued share and loan capital was £6,124,000; the total capital employed being £7,215,000.

urban district, Wiltshire, Eng land, on the River Avon near the west (Somerset) border of the county. Pop. (1931) 4,735. Its houses, built of local grey stone, rise in disorder up the steep sides of the Avon valley.

Bradford (Bradauford, Bradeford) was the site of a battle in 652. A monastery existed here in the 8th century, of which St. Aldhelm was abbot at the time of his being made bishop of Sherborne in 705. No mention of the monastery occurs after the Conquest, but the nunnery of Shaftesbury, to which it was given in roof, retained the lordship of the manor until the disso lution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. Bradford appears as a borough in the Domesday Survey, being assessed at 42 hides. One of the most interesting features of the old town is the ancient nine-arched bridge with a chapel on it, as at Wake field. The Saxon church of St. Lawrence is considered to be "the most perfect surviving church of its kind in England, if not in Europe." It consists of a chancel, nave and porch; and its foun dation is generally attributed to St. Aldhelm. The mediaeval tithe-barn of Bradford is one of the best specimens in the country. The restored parish church of Holy Trinity dates from the r 2th century. Bradford was at one time the centre of the clothing industry in the west of England, and was famous for its broad cloth and mixtures, the waters of the Avon being especially favourable. The industry declined in the 18th century, and in 1740 we find the merchants of Bradford petitioning for an act of parliament to improve their trade. The town possesses many signs of its former prosperity; and the open Cotswold Hills, which contributed to the establishment of the wool trade in the past, still give the town its character and help its development as a tourist centre. The market is of ancient origin. Bradford is served by the G.W. railway and by the Kennet and Avon canal, one of the last of the southern waterways to fall into disuse. Kingston House, one of the finest Jacobean mansions in England, was long the seat of the dukes of Kingston. Bradford-on-Avon is included in the parliamentary division of Westbury.