Book chronicles Oldham’s move from cotton to commerce

AT the book launch are (front, from left) Michael Meacher MP, author Ed Stacey, Roger Ivens, from the Oldham local studies and archive centre, (back, from left) Asian Business Association life president Tariq Amin and Steve Garland from the Heritage Lottery Fund

A NEW book about the influence of Asian business and Asian entrepreneurs on the economic wellbeing of Oldham has been launched.

Written by former Oldham Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ed Stacey, “Cotton, Curry and Commerce” chronicles experiences from post-war Britain — when many would have been employed in the cotton mills — to the present day, when second or third generation British Asians form part of the innovative spirit in the borough.

The book is the culmination of a two-year project on Asian business in Oldham, initiated by the Asian Business Association (ABA) and supported by Oldham Council’s Local Studies and Archives team.

The Heritage Lottery Fund contributed £25,000 to help create the book, an audio archive at the local studies library, a film and a display.

The book is the result of 22 interviews with local people and information from the archives of the ABA.

Mr Stacey, from Greenfield, and researcher Mandeep Samra interviewed people who have been active in Oldham over the past 50 years, capturing their reflections on how they have seen the borough change since the 1960s.

The recordings have been archived by Oldham Council archivist Jo Robson.

Among the interviewees are Asian business leaders, politicians and immigrant pioneers among the first to move to Oldham from their homeland.

Kashif Ashraf, spokesperson for the ABA Executive, said: “It is a remarkable 50-year story of economic progress and I am very pleased that it is to be recorded and preserved as part of Oldham’s history.”

Speakers at Friday’s launch at the Blue Tiffin, Royton included Michael Meacher, MP for Oldham East and Royton, Roger Ivens, from the Local Studies Library, Steve Garland, from the Lottery, and David Benstead, from the Oldham Business Leadership Group.

Copies of the book, the archives of the Asian Business Association, and the oral history recordings are also available at Oldham Local Studies and Archives, 84 Union Street, Oldham, by calling 0161-770 4654 or emailing archives@oldham.gov.uk.