It survived two World Wars, several recessions and the invention of stackable plastic chairs. But in the end cheap foreign competition proved too much and in 2010 the 170-year-old Lancashire furniture firm HJ Berry & Sons entered its final days as the administrator started to sell assets, including property and machinery in the village of Chipping.

This weekend six years ago the public had a chance to buy the last chairs produced in the Kirk Mills site before trade buyers started to bid for the heavy plant and machinery. Also sold were two detached houses, four cottages, a mill once used by industrial pioneer Richard Arkwright and 20 acres of commercial land. The company, owned by Andrew Berry, went into administration with £4.6m of debt but the administrator is hopeful that unsecured creditors will see some of their money back after the asset sale, triggered by a creditors' meeting in Preston. The community had hoped the mill might have either been turned into a museum or a country house retreat. The Berry family ran the company for five generations but increased competition from Chinese and other foreign chair producers meant it failed to turn a profit in the last ten years of operation. At the time of closure it was Britain's oldest surviving furniture maker. Six years on, and at the time of my visit nothing has changed past the point of which the doors were closed. 

The factory still lies dormant along the old stream that once powered Kirk Mills in the victorian age, and the vibrant colours have stood the test of time within its walls. Staff items still hang in the changing rooms, with personal items left untouched since everyone was sent home. This was something of a sad place to visit, given the relevance of Britain's dying industry, places like this were once something to be proud of, yet we have turned to an economy that favors the growth of Chinese development over our own in order to save a few penny's, while the true cost of our discount habit is in clear sight.