United Biscuits Ltd factory, Isleworth

During the 1950s and 1960s, the service industries in Britain expanded, leading to a shortage of labour in the older manufacturing sector. Thus Black and Asian Commonwealth citizens were recruited to fill these posts. A study carried out by Political and Economic Planning in 1976 noted that over a third of British Black and Asian women were employed in manufacturing industries.

A disproportionate number worked in food manufacture. This type of factory work, according to the study, had 'the following characteristics: shortage of labour, shift working, unsocial hours, low pay and an unpleasant working environment'. After the war, many of the expanding industries of west London relied on the labour of immigrant groups.