More about the Tannery
 
The Tannery opened in 1939 at a time of serious unemployment and was promoted by the West Cumberland Industrial Development Company. The West Coast Tannery Company managed the new factory. In 1950 it was employing almost 500 people and in January that year Harold Wilson - a future Prime Minister - visited Haverigg as President of the Board of Trade to open a new extension. The firm was successful and profitable in the 1950s but saw a decline in fortunes in the 1970s. By 1977 the company was facing more financial difficulties due to the cost of hides and foreign competition, and was taken over by Garston Tanning Company from Liverpool. Government assistance was available then to avoid Millom suffering more major job losses after the closure of the Ironworks and the Hodbarrow mines in 1968. However by 1979, after the lack of sustained financial government support, the Tannery closed with a loss of around 100 jobs.