Raleigh: Fred Mitchell

Industrial relations and management's 'pound of flesh', on the shop floor of a large engineering firm in Nottingham.

Fred Mitchell, a former miner and guardsman is senior shop steward at the Sturmey Archer factory, a Raleigh subsidiary, in Nottingham. Their utilitarian but vital product - the three-speed bicycle hub - had been on sale since the 1930s and Fred is the link in the chain that ensures that good relations are kept between 'them and us' - management and the shop floor.

Sturmey Archer gear products were produced in Nottingham until 2000 when the company was split from Raleigh, with production now centred in Taiwan.