Britain's factory system faced increasing overseas competition. More modern factories were built in India, Japan and the Far East, while Britain, with the world's first factory system, was saddled with old, obsolete machines and practices. Matters were made worse by certain attitudes. One mill owner recalled:

'Never... let anyone... hear you talk this childish stuff about foreign competition. It's just twaddle... no foreign Johnnies can ever be bred that can spin and weave like Lancashire lasses and lads.'