Port Sunlight - A ray of sunshine?

 

Port Sunlight, created by William Hesketh Lever for his Sunlight soap factory workers in 1888, who is often cited as an example of a Victorian philanthropic factory owner.  Certainly a much better place to live than a back to back slum if you worked in the soap factory just down the road - leafy, green and pleasant.  But wait a minute:  Who paid your wages?  Who did you pay rent to?  Whose shop did you buy your groceries in? Who did most of the money you were paid go back to?  Philanthropy, yes, because workers had good living conditions, education provision and health care, but good business sense as well.  And if you are happy, fit and healthy, you probably work better and with more enthusiasm too.  No wonder Lever did so well!