Cotton provides a new thread of optimism in the North West

Here is a feature on the partial return of cotton spinning to the North West of the UK. It follows the supply chain of a bale of cotton imported from California eventually transformed into British-made shirts ready for domestic and overseas markets.

A competitive exchange rate is a stimulus to profitability and production - although the cost of imported cotton bales also rises. More fundamentally, the article explores whether the UK continues to have the skills and the production capacity at each stage of the regional supply chain to manufacture a finished product.