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Meshe David Osinsky was born, in 1885, in
the small town of Kurkel in the Russian province of Kovno (later
Lithuania). Kovno is the northernmost province of the Pale, the area to which the majority of the Russian Jewish population was confined. The treatment of the Jews in Russia at this time was very harsh. The history of the pogroms is too great a story to relate here, suffice to say that Osinsky left his family, friends and homeland when he was fifteen years old. He reputedly left Russia with two friends. Where Osinsky planned destination was is not known but in 1900 he arrived in England, possibly through the port of Hull. It was not unknown for unscrupulous sea captains to welcome their passengers to America as they landed them in the ports of eastern England. |
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For the majority of Russian emigrants whose
planned destination was England it was often the case that they
had the name and address of a friend or relative who would assist
them on their arrival. A report on Leeds in 1888, by the Select Committee on Immigration stated, 'During the last twenty years there has been a steady influx of Polish-Russian Jews. The greater part come from the province of Kovno, and on starting, are often acquainted with but one word of English, 'LEEDS'. |
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The picture of Osinsky's first four years
in England is unfortunately blank, but in 1904 he was in Chesterfield
in Derbyshire where he obtained an insurance policy on shop premises
at 20 Holywell Street. The policy was effective from 2nd November
in the name of Morris Burton whose occupation was described as
'hosier and draper.' It was usual for immigrants to take an English name. Why Osinsky decided on Burton is unknown but the town of Burton on Trent is not far away from Chesterfield. Alternatively, the local brewer had signs everywhere for 'Burton's Ales' |
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Those who knew Burton in the early days recalled, '… we often went over to Sheffield for the half-day and when we arrived back at midnight we had to pass the Holywell Cross shop and Burton would be sitting behind the counter, with a lighted candle, studying away at a pile of books. My father would knock on the glass and tell him to get some sleep.' '…he would be sat at the table having supper, a large two pint blue and white striped bowl with a spout, full of bread and milk.' '…the sole of one boot was tied on with string.' |
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In 1901 Chesterfield has a population of about 43,000 but its position in the centre of a thriving farming and industrial area gave traders a much larger market. For a business serving the 'working-class' the range of products sold did not pose too much of a problem. Unlike today, denim jeans notwithstanding, there was much greater uniformity of style. Burton's little shop sold only a few suits, the main product range being shirts and caps displayed in the window on planks supported by three house bricks. There were inducements to buy suits ranging from free balloons to clothes brushes with the name of the shop embossed on the back. The prices charged by Burton seem, to modern eyes, astonishing: - |
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Men's black vicuna or brown tweed suits 11/9
(58p in modern money) Suits to fit boys aged 14 years 2/11 (14p) Sailor suits for boys aged 6 years 1/11 (9p) |
| It must be remembered that a social report of the time found that the minimum income level at which a family (parents and three children) could maintain physical efficiency was 21/8 per week, and that more than 15% of workers were at, or below, that level. |
| Trading at the turn of the 19th century was just as 'straight and honest' as it is today. The traders used different 'strokes' 'Tricks-of-the-Trade' included selling a suit that was too small for the customer, lift it up at the back of the neck, looked good in the single mirror in the shop. Sale made, hoping you would have the correct size in stock when the hapless customer returned. Charm and apologies were always in stock. Depending on the appearance of the customer anything from 5/- to one pound would be added to the price. |
| No records of the first shop exist but it evidently succeeded as in 1908 Burton opened another shop in Mansfield in the market place, the hub of the local economy, and, by 1909, Burton was able to open yet another premises in Sheffield. |
| Burton seems to have had a flair for choosing excellent shop sites. The Sheffield shop was in one of the city's busiest shopping streets situated between 'Boots the Chemist' and the 'Home and Colonial Stores', both household names. By this time, Burton had acquired Progress Mills in Leeds. Described as 'a works' on a letterhead the location of the mill is not known. |
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The biggest move Burton made in 1909 was his marriage, on 23rd March in Worksop, to Sophia Amelia Marks, of that town. Sophia was one of the thirteen children of Maurice Marks, a local furniture dealer. The ceremony was well attended with guests coming from a wide area. The guest list included Mr & Mrs Silverman and Mr & Mrs Goodman of Worksop, most likely Burton's two companions on his flight from the Pale. The following year Burton became a naturalised British subject. The certificate confirming his new status is in the name of Morris Burton. He had still to settle on the name Montague. |
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Following his marriage Burton set up home
in Sheffield. The city was to be the headquarters of the growing
Burton empire. The number of retail outlets continued to grow.
A branch was opened in Manchester (1910), then Leicester (1912)
and then Stockport (1913). The uncertainty of war caused a temporary halt to expansion. The country carried on much as normal with a 'Business as Usual' attitude. Few people expected the war to be prolonged. By June 1915 the company resumed expansion with the opening of a shop in Coventry. By the end of the year five more, including one in Leeds, had begun business. In September of the following year, six more joined the throng, including premises in Wandsworth, London. |
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The Wandsworth outlet marked a departure from policy. The previous expansion had been into poor working-class areas. Low price shops selling low price goods to those with little to pay. The London shop was a little more up-market with pricier clothing. |
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Aided by military contracts the business thrived.
Making uniforms was little different to making what was, essentially,
the uniform of the working-class. 1919 saw forty Burton shops throughout the country, including eight in Ireland. Peace saw that the firm had factories in Leeds in Woodhouse Lane, Melbourne Street, Millroyd Street, Byron Street and Concord Street. Business was good but it was about to get better. |
| Four million men were about to be released from the armed forces. Each was given either a suit or a cash alternative with which to buy clothing. This unprecedented demand for clothing was further added to by the public, who had suffered the deprivations of war. It seemed as if everybody in the country wanted to put on their 'glad rags'. |
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Burton had evidently anticipated this huge
surge and had established factories working at full pressure
to produce garments fir his chain of shops throughout the country. Burton's empire shown exceptional growth, now it was about to go sky-high. From 40 shops in 1919, 140 in 1922, 211 in 1925, 333 in 1929, 404 in 1932, 505 in 1936 to 595 in 1939. Pause for an agitation with the Germans. |
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The shops themselves were far removed from
the humble premises in Chesterfield. As the founder described
them they were, ' modern temples of commerce'. Every Burton shop had the same outward appearance. The name of the shop was uniformly presented in bronze lettering on fine marble. The exterior stonework was always of emerald granite with shafts of Scotch grey granite. The interior fittings were of oak and gunmetal. With the rapid expansion four styles of construction were adopted. Portland or Empire stone for the very prestigious shops, granite facing for the next line of importance, down to terra cotta for the smallest shops. Oak panelling and thick carpets were standard throughout. The strategy was to create the impression of a company with the same solidity and decorum as a bank or safe financial institution. As the company had moved into the made-to-measure business and the customer had to pay before receiving any goods that impression was important. |
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| A manager's manual, written by Burton, contained instructions down to the finest detail, 'black pins only to be used when fastening cloth to the window bottom'. Other entries have instructions as to what top place in the window, where to place it, how to display it and when to change it. |
| Publicity was given equally detailed instructions. Sandwich-board men were told where, when and how to stand, publicity leaflets were posted to every person in the local directory, thousands of them, with the decree that they should be posted at 9 o'clock so that they would be delivered that evening when the target customer had got home from work and was in a much better frame of mind. Try that with today's postal service! |
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Burton had built a new clothing factory in Hudson Road at Harehills in Leeds. The first stage was completed in 1921. By 1925, it was the largest clothing factory in Europe. |
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Burton was unlike the previous century's factory employers. He not only cared about his staff but put his words into actions. A report, of 1925, from the Leeds Mercury newspaper described a visit to the factory, '… the greater part of the work is
done in one vast room covering a quarter of a million square
feet… the workers stretched out before me as far as the
eye could see - young boys and girls, middle aged men and women,
everyone looking healthy and cheerful. The room is specially
lighted from the top by arc lights which give an evenly diffused
light, thus preventing injury to the eyes by glare. |
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The siting of the premises was, as ever with
Burton, strategic. The site consisted of a mixture of market
gardens, rhubarb fields and old foundry premises. Surrounding
the site was a mass of typical back-to-back houses, beyond was
the cramped hoses of Compton Road, Harehills and Burmantofts. On one side of the factory was a large expanse of free land that was soon to have a municipal housing estate built upon it. The new site could not have been better placed to recruit labour. |
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In 1922, the first specially built, and equipped,
canteen was opened providing seating for 2,000 people. With the
expansion of the factory came, in 1929, seating for 4,000. 1934
saw the largest canteen in the world with seating for 8,000 staff
at one sitting. To cater for such a host in the space of the 'dinner hour' required no less attention to detail than that employed in the factory. Every day a series of menus of what was to be on offer, with the prices, was circulated throughout the factory. Each worker bought a ticket priced between 4d-10d. By half-past-ten this information had been fed back to the kitchens. The kitchen staff had until one o'clock to prepare the meals. Other factories in the company had similar facilities. |
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A system of 'worker welfare' was introduced
at an early stage, anticipating the National Health Service of
1948. A welfare superintendent was appointed, as was a full time
nurse. There was also a restroom for women workers and a 'sick
club' that offered benefits along the lines of a friendly society. In the year 1934 the company could boast of; a welfare department; a doctors consulting room; surgery; medical clinic; dental surgery; optical clinic; sun ray clinic; a male rest room; a visiting chiropodist; a savings bank deposit scheme; a loan scheme for workers needing financial assistance; a hockey club; gymnasium; ladies cricket club; netball team; cycling club; regular outings to places of popular interest and the seaside; amateur dramatics society; operatic society; a swimming club; two football teams; five cricket teams; eight tennis courts; a 'dowry' scheme where those women leaving the firm to be married received a sum of money, towards which the ladies had contributed 6d per week and the company a considerably larger sum, plus profits, those who remained unmarried received the 'dowry' on retirement. |
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That was over sixty years ago - modern companies please take note! |
| It could not be claimed that the benefits were in lieu of pay, Burton's paid above union rates. The benefits the company gained were less tangible but no less real. With healthy workers, high morale, production at the factories put other companies to shame. |
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In spite of the ailing economy, particularly
in the north east of England, in the 1920s & 30s, Burtons
carried on regardless, even increasing employment. Although Burton employed only (!) 20,000 workers the company also created a further 100,000 jobs to satisfy the demands of those workers, cloth, trimmings, machinery, food, etc, etc The 'knock-on' effect of those 120,000 workers cannot be over-estimated in a period of chronic unemployment. |
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The end of the 1930s brought greater difficulties. The Second World War began- a war that totally absorbed all available resources of the economy. The company had made arrangements to cope with the supply of uniforms should the need arise. The firm responded rapidly. Just over a year after the outbreak of war, 2482 employees had left to join His Majesty's forces. Allowances were being made to married men to help them 'keep the home together.' The employees approached the management with a wish to contribute to the war effort. The cost of a Spitfire fighter plane was borne equally between the company and staff. Known as the 'Montague Bee' the aircraft was operational with a Polish squadron; reformed in France from survivors of the famous Cracow squadron who had escaped form the Germans. |
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Gone for a Burton A phrase still in use today was coined in the war. Above the Burton shop in Blackpool was an office for testing RAF wireless operators on their Morse code. The result of the test decided whether the operator continued in the RAF as a radio operator. Consequently, the test was approached with some dread. In later Service use the phrase was used to describe anything from a cancelled weekend off to a death in action. Nowadays it usually refers to a death or something that has come to an abrupt end. |
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The end of the war brought not only the anticipated increase in demand for clothing but also a massive increase in the value of raw wool, and in turn the value of cloth and garments awaiting sale. Orders had been taken, and the financial deposit, for which the company could not obtain the requisite raw materials. The backlog of orders had still not been overcome in December 1947. The price of imported fleeces was high
due in part to the devaluation of Sterling in 1948 and also to
international stockpiling. |
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The company, unlike many others, was sufficiently strong to survive the economic disaster. Montague Burton had been knighted in 1932 and died, on September 21 1952, as the company was undergoing its greatest economic challenge. It is a tribute to Sir Montague's business acumen that the company did survive. |
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Burtons is still in the high street. Modern
business practices have replaced the 'hands-on' approach of Sir
Monty. The factory on Hudson Road is now a distribution centre
due to 'decentralisation of manufacturing support activities'.
The company has diversified into ladies wear, jewellery, electrical equipment and children's toys. Like all large modern businesses the attention to the smallest detail has gone and never again will there be an order for ' fish and chips, pot of tea and a fruit tart and custard for 8,000 please.' |
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