Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix,

the Science of Happiness Podcast.

For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want

to share that science with you.

And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.

I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that

calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds. Hello you're listening to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service.

Today we're going back to 1933 when a shoe manufacturer from Czechoslovakia

set up a factory just outside London which would go on to transform the shoe industry

worldwide. In 2018, Dina Newman spoke to one of its senior engineers, Mick Pinion. The Great Depression of the 1930s was for many people the worst possible time for doing business.

But the Bata Shoe Company used it as an opportunity for expansion.

Its founder Thomas Bata was ready to take on the world.

We do not fear the future he declared. Half the people in the world go barefoot. Of the

remainder only 5% are well shot. But as logic was simple, no matter how poor people would always buy shoes as long as they were

affordable. To keep the cost down, he had introduced a new automated production method.

Until butter, the shoemaking industry had been dominated by small independent

shoemakers. A shoemaker would make a complete shoe, so he had to know every individual operation.

So Bata took that and they broke it down into smaller

components.

Mick Pinyon is a volunteer with the Bata Heritage Center at East Tilbury. He worked for Bata

throughout his career from an apprentice to the chief engineer and production manager.

He knows the company's production methods inside out.

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