After the Second World War, work and industry in Kirklees began to change. For many years, the textile industry, especially wool and clothing, had been very important. Huddersfield and surrounding towns were famous for their mills and factories, and families often had generations working in the same businesses. By the 1950s and 1960s, however, things started to change. Some factories closed or produced less, jobs became harder to find, and wages were lower because of competition from overseas. New machines also meant fewer people were needed to do the same work.
At the same time, new industries appeared. Engineering, electronics, and chemicals began to grow, offering different kinds of work. Factories like David Brown Tractors in Meltham became major employers, showing how the area was moving from old industries to modern manufacturing.
Women who had worked in factories during the war continued to play an important part in the workforce, helping to keep industries running and shaping the way people worked in Kirklees.
In Batley, Fox’s Biscuits became very successful. The company started in 1853 as a small shop in the town centre, run by Michael Spedding. His recipes quickly became popular, and in 1897 his son-in-law, Fred Ellis Fox, took over. By 1927, Fox’s Biscuits moved to a larger site on Wellington Street, where more members of the Fox family joined the business and expanded the range of biscuits being made. The products were sold not just locally, but across Britain. Today, Fox’s Biscuits is one of the UK’s biggest biscuit makers, supplying products to countries around the world. Today, around 3,000 people work at its factories in Batley and Kirkham and its distribution centre in Wakefield.
By 1961, there were 284 registered textile mills in Kirklees, 95 of them in Huddersfield town centre. Many mills were vertical, meaning all steps of production, spinning, weaving, finishing, happened under one roof. The town’s cloth carried the famous “Made in Huddersfield, England” label, known worldwide for its high quality. To meet the growing demand for labour and the need for specific skills, the textile industry employed workers from Pakistan and India. While their work was essential, social attitudes towards new arrivals were often mixed, reflecting the tensions that would later be linked to movements like the National Front.
By the late 1960s and 1970s, overseas manufacturers were producing cheaper textiles, and Huddersfield’s mills struggled to compete. Many mills closed, ending centuries of local family traditions and leaving empty buildings across the towns.
Today, Kirklees is reinventing itself as a centre for textile excellence. Organisations like the Textile Centre of Excellence and the University of Huddersfield’s Technical Textiles Research Centre are using new technology and research to make high-quality textiles again, helping the region become a leader in innovation and industry once more.