History

Oldham's wealth was built on cotton spinning and the manufacture of textile machinery. In its heyday it was the greatest cotton-spinning town in the world, boasting more spindles than the whole of the United States and providing a home to the most famous of all textile machinery-makers, Platt Bros.

It was also the home of other world-famous companies - electrical engineer Ferranti and plane-maker A V Roe, which became part of British Aerospace.

The cotton industry gradually declined; Ferranti is now a shadow of its former self. British Aerospace is still a major employer, though it, too, has had to shed jobs.

Now Oldham is the home of Zetex plc, the UK's biggest computer chip manufacturer; Park Cake Bakeries, part of Northern Foods; Fulfilment Logistics Centre, part of the N Brown Group plc, in the Lilac and Briar Mills, Shaw, as well as Littlewoods retail in the Durban Mill, Chadderton.

Dew Construction, SSI International (originally the Oldham-born Seton's), Glynwebb, Pilgrim International and James Briggs Ltd are all Oldham firms. Money Controls Ltd and Innovative Technology, world leaders in the verification of coins and banknotes, are both Oldham companies.