Belt up

Every now and then I'm speaking to someone or watching the TV and something triggers a memory. I honestly thought I'd written down every job I'd done, but no, there's more.
I worked in two different belt factories over the years. Both were temp jobs, lasting just a few days while the firm got a large order out. Both were in small factories employing just a few staff.
The first was in Corby. I had to fix the metal end to the leather belt, at the other end to the buckle. It involved placing the end of the belt into a machine that planed the leather to the correct thickness so that the metal end could be fixed. I think I used to tack it on, but it was a long time ago.
Another time I worked in a leather belt factory in a tiny village deep in rural Northamptonshire. This time I had to use a machine to stamp out the belt blanks from leather hides. It was more complicated than it seemed because you had to judge the distance between the cuts. To far apart and you'd waste leather, to close together and the belt sides wouldn't be perpendicular and would fail quality control. It was fun using the huge press that cut through the leather so cleanly. I shudder to think what might happen if one's finger was trapped. It was impossible because of the many safety gates and other features on the machine, and no, I didn't try...

Both the firms were producing quality leather belts for sale in UK shops. I think I recall seeing M&S and TopShop labels on the finished belts. Are these firms still in existence? Is it still possible for a small local business to produce a quality product to be sold on the High Street, or have they succumbed to the Chinese invasion?

I enjoyed my time working in a different environment. Most temp jobs are for a day or two, and you never go back. I haven't been to that village since then. There's a busy dual carriageway that takes the traffic from one motorway to another and the sound of traffic is hardly heard there now.