ABSTRACT
VEHICLE manufacture was already firmly established in London in the mid-nineteenth century and the industry expanded very rapidly after 1900. But, as Table 23 shows, the rate of expansion was faster in the country as a whole than in London, so that the Location Quotient for London fell, from above unity to below it. As radical a change occurred in the pattern of location within London. (See Table 24.) Already in 1861 nearly 15 per cent of the vehicle-makers of Greater London were enumerated outside the present-day County—a very high figure for that date. By 1951 this proportion had risen to just over 75 per cent—the highest proportion for any major manufacturing industry of London. The most important single centre in 1861 was the West End, where Westminster, St Marylebone and St Pancras together contained precisely 30 per cent of all the workers of Greater London. Within this area there was an industrial quarter of some importance in Long Acre. An observer in 1843 said: Vehicles: England And Wales, Greater London, 1861, 1921, 1951 (Source: Censuses, 1861, 1921, 1951) https://www.niso.org/standards/z39-96/ns/oasis-exchange/table">
1861
1921
1951
England and Wales
Numbers employed in vehicles, thousands
50.2
359.2
931.3
Percentage of vehicle to all workers
0.5
2.1
4.7
Greater London
Numbers employed in vehicles, thousands
9.5
59.3
143.8
Percentage of vehicle to all workers
0.6
1.8
3.4
Percentage of London vehicle to England and Wales vehicle workers
19.0
165
15.4
Location Quotient for vehicles in Greater London
1.2
0.9
0.7
We are not antiquarian enough to know whether Long Acre has, from the time of its formation, been a bazaar for coach-makers; but certain it is that at the present day coach-making operations form the most remarkable feature in that street. 1
