By the 1870s shoemaking had become the largest source of employment in Leicester, with firms such as Lennard Brothers, Thomas Crick, Stead & Simpson, J Preston & Sons, and Walker & Kempson. British United Shoe Machinery, whose head office was in Leicester, became the world’s largest manufacturer of footwear machinery and materials, exporting all over the globe. By the mid-1960s it was the city’s largest employer, with a workforce of approximately 4,500. The record office has material spanning 1899–2004, with directors’, board and shareholders’ minutes, plus balance sheets and registers of members, and you can also try the BU History Group website at www.buhistory.org.uk where former employees share recollections of the company.…