NINO STAFFA was already taking place with many firms transferring production to other areas outside the old declining areas or even overseas. . At the same time that the multinationals were locating their manufacturing processes elsewhere, smaller labour-intensive firms were moving into these declining areas attracted by the older premises which they could rent cheaply and convert at little cost. « Using relatively primitive equipment, they aim to make a quick profit out of exploiting cheap labour. For them there is a double benefit: Batley's old mills, Canning Town's refineries, West Newcastle's old factories, represent not just empty buildings but a vast reserve of labour ... The firm of Spyrallynx in Canning Town is typical. lt moved into the area in the late sixties, after being pushed out of Tower Hamlets by redevelopment. Its business is to manufacture beds ... Many of the workforce of 200, who are not unionised, are immigrants. Like most of the new manufacturing jobs, work at Spyrallyinx is insecure, low paid, and in poor conditions. Many such firms pay below even the poor minimum rate made compulsory by Wages Council legislation. They occupy an increasing share of the old industriai buildings and provide a growing proportion of local employment » ( 6). Only a small number of firms, however, contro! the majority of the workforce. In Canning Town, for instance, 6 firms in 1974 controlled 50% of the workforce, and other declining areas display a similar pattern. The transition from a capitalist/industrial society towards a corporate society has manifested itself on the urban form of British cities in several ways. Whereas the construction of cheap working classes housing was the main form of 19th century urban expansion, in the 20th century Britain's towns and cities have grown through the construction of middle class housing in vast suburban developments. In the traditional working class areas the residents adapted to the industriai decline of these areas in severa! ways. Some people simply moved away to other parts of the country where jobs were to be found, but it was mostly the skilled and semiskilled who were able to take this solution. A minority of those that moved elsewhere emigrated to countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand and an even smaller number emigrated to (6) CDP, op. cit., p. 34. 12
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