Hillfields, Coventry and the Car Industry

Abstract

Coventry was a showpiece of British capitalism from the late 1880s until the late 1960s. First with bicycles and motor cycles, and most important with cars, Coventry workers have enjoyed a central position within fast-growing major industries. They have had central status within powerful firms which have for decades enjoyed the discretion of being able to use Responsible Autonomy strategies toward most of their workers. In consequence Coventry had been the fastest growing and richest major city in Great Britain for seventy-five years (see Graph 16.1).