WHY WAS RICHARD ARKWRIGHT SO SUCCESSFUL?.
Richard Arkwright was born in Preston, Lancashire, England in 1732. In Preston he was a wig-maker of the best fashion. At that time the textile industry was experiencing a shortage of cotton threads. So Arkwright, in 1769 designed a spinning frame by which the cotton fibre was spun into threads.
He was a very ambitious man. The hand spinning workers, who supposed that their means of subsistence would be destroyed by competition from the machine, compelled the inventor to move to Nottingham. Arkwright had a keen business mind and he went into partnership with Jedediah Strutt (the inventor of the stocking frame) and Samuel Need. Between them they built more factories and made a great deal of money.
In 1769 Arkwright took out a patent for his spinning machine and set up his 1st mill in which the power was supplied by horses.
In 1771 he established at Cromford a larger mill driven by water power.
He advertised in the local papers. In the advertisement he asked for women and children because it was what they had called cheap labour'. He promised full employment. His machines were easy to use and skilled workers were not needed, as in other factories. He needed workers that had nimble fingers and just needed eye keepers'. He took good care of his workers, he built homes, schools for his workers/weavers and families. He employed 5000 labourers who worked day, night, two 12 hour shifts.
Arkwright had made his fortune. He had first lived above his factories and then decided to build a castle for himself. He built a hotel too. The idea of a hotel was brilliant because he could put potential buyers in a comfortable place to sleep and relax for the night.
Richard Arkwright together with Jedediah Strutt, had all the factors needed to make a factory system work: buildings, power supply eg.water, money, raw materials eg.cotton and most important of all customers!.
He was compelled to enter numerous patent suits but after several years of litigation a jury in the Court of King's Bench, decided against him and his patent was annulled.
