‘Food Miles’: Britain’s Transition from Rail to Road-based Food Distribution, 1919-1975 Thomas James Spain MA Doctor of Philosophy University of York Railway Studies September 2016 Abstract Britain’s railways were essential for the development of the British economy throughout the nineteenth century; however, by 1919 their seemingly unassailable position as goods carriers was about to be eroded by the lorry. The railway strike of September 1919 had presented traders with an opportunity to observe the capabilities of road haulage, but there is no study which focuses on the process of modal shift in goods distribution from the trader’s perspective. This thesis therefore marks an important departure from the existing literature by placing goods transport into its working context. The importance of food as an everyday essential commodity adds a further dimension to the status of goods transport within Britain’s supply chain, particularly when the fragility of food products means that minimising the impact of distance, time and spoilage before consumption is vital in ensuring effective and practical logistical solutions. These are considered in a series of four case studies on specific food commodities and retail distribution, which also hypothesise that the modal shift from rail to road reflected the changing character of transport demand between 1919 and 1975. Consequently, this thesis explores the notion that the centre of governance over the supply chain transferred between food producers, manufacturers, government and chain retailer, thereby driving changes in transport technology and practice. This thesis uses archival material to provide a qualitative study into the food industry’s relationship with transport where the case studies incorporate supply chain analyses to permit an exploration of how changes in structure might have influenced the modal shift from rail to road distribution. It subsequently discusses how and when the emergence of mass-consumerism, as well as the intensification of the chain retailer’s quest for competitive advantage, effected a permanent change in the balance of food logistics in Britain before 1975. 2 List of contents Abstract 2 List of figures 10 List of graphs 12 List of illustrations 14 List of maps 15 List of tables 16 List of appendices 18 Acknowledgements 19 Declaration 21 Introduction 22 Chapter 1 - Historiography, sources and themes 29 1.1 Food overview 29 - Food literature: From agriculture to retailing 30 1.2 Transport overview 34 - Transport literature: Finding an approach 35 1.3 Sources 37 3 1.4 Themes 39 - Geography 40 - Competition and regulation 41 - Cost and service 43 Chapter 2 - Goods by rail and road, 1919-1975 44 2.1 Introduction 44 2.2 Monopoly prevention and industrial action: railway rates regulation and the expansion of road haulage 46 2.3 Railway challenges 50 2.4 Perceptions of declining railway service quality: compensation, the 1926 General Strike and road propaganda 56 2.5 Road haulage: competition without regulation 60 2.6 The railways respond to road competition 62 2.7 Establishing goods transport regulation 65 2.8 Searching for a ‘Square Deal’ in goods transport, 1934-1939 69 2.9 Planning for war, 1938-1939 74 2.10 Goods transport in wartime and planning for peace, 1940-1945 76 2.11 From nationalisation to reorganisation: goods transport, 1945-1955 81 4 2.12 The ‘Modernisation Plan’, 1955-1959 85 2.13 Railways in retreat, road haulage under pressure: goods transport, 1959-1975 89 2.14 Conclusion 93 Chapter 3 - Milk distribution by rail and road, 1919-1975 95 3.1 Introduction 95 3.2 Milk supply chain analysis 98 3.3 Distribution before 1919 105 3.4 Motorising churn collection 108 3.5 The railway response to competition 110 3.6 The railways and wholesaler expansion 111 3.7 Rail and road competition in depot milk distribution 113 3.8 The London wholesale depot 117 3.9 Developing the rail-tank operation, c.1928-1935 118 3.10 Motorising urban milk distribution 124 3.11 The Milk Marketing Board and milk distribution, c.1936-1939 125 3.12 The Second World War: planning and prioritisation 129 3.13 Consolidating control and rural distribution, 1942-1945 133 5 3.14 Post-war transport policy and road collection 135 3.15 Railway milk in decline, 1950-1957 138 3.16 Developing bulk milk collection by road, 1953-1975 143 3.17 Conclusion 147 Chapter 4 - Meat distribution by rail and road, 1919-1968 149 4.1 Introduction 149 4.2 Meat supply chain analysis 152 4.3 Livestock and meat distribution by rail: service quality, rates and regulation 158 4.4 Domestic meat distribution and the cost of living debate: accusation, response and the logistical challenge, 1920-1925 163 4.5 The benefits of road haulage 166 4.6 The 1926 General Strike 170 4.7 Macro-economic policy and domestic livestock distribution 173 4.8 Railway and user investment in imported livestock and Palethorpe’s sausage traffic 174 4.9 Road regulation and railway collaboration 177 4.10 Rail in decline: the Livestock Industry Act (1937) 179 4.11 War preparations and government control, 1938-1940 182 6 4.12 Meat transport: adaptation and rationalisation, 1940-1943 184 4.13 Crises in rail and road distribution, 1944-1947 187 4.14 The post-war causes of modal shift: legislation, decontrol and the ASLEF rail strike, 1947-1955 189 4.15 The decline of domestic livestock and meat traffic by rail, 1955-1968 192 4.16 Conclusion 194 Chapter 5 - Distributing confectionery: Rowntree, 1919-1975 197 5.1 Introduction 197 5.2 Rowntree’s confectionery supply chain analysis 199 5.3 The character of Britain’s confectionery industry 204 5.4 Road trials and rail tribulations in confectionery distribution, 1919-1923 208 5.5 Rowntree and Northern Motor Utilities 213 5.6 From uncertainty to collaboration: Rowntree’s collaborative relationship with the railways 215 5.7 Confectionery distribution by rail and road, 1926-1930 218 5.8 The impact of competition upon distribution, 1930-1939 220 5.9 Confectionery at war: rationing and rationalisation, 1940-1945 225 5.10 Nationalisation, integration and innovation, 1945-1959 228 7 5.11 Modal shift at last: Rowntree’s rail and road operations, 1960-1975 233 5.12 Conclusion 238 Chapter 6 - Food Retail and Transport, 1919-1975 241 6.1 Introduction 241 6.2 Food supply chain analysis 243 6.3 Independents, wholesalers, the Co-operative and multiples: food distributors and their use of road transport 249 6.4 From railway strikes to road haulage: the Co-operative approach, 1919-1931 254 6.5 The inter-war retail multiple: regulation, expansion and the entry of Marks & Spencer, 1921-1935 258 6.6 Mobile shops and home delivery: the independent retailer and service-based competition to 1939 262 6.7 Food retail at war, 1939-1945 264 6.8 Post-war challenges, 1946-1948 267 6.9 Tentative steps towards self-service retailing and its impact upon distribution, 1950-1955 268 6.10 Improving mobility: warehousing, transport technologies and the influence of consumer demand, 1955-1959 271 6.11 Shifting supply chain governance and its effect upon food retail transport operations, 1955-1975 274 8 6.12 Conclusion 277 Chapter 7 - Conclusion 280 7.1 Overview 280 7.2 Key factors 281 - Supply chain governance 281 - Service quality 283 - Regulation 284 - The point of transition 285 7.3 New directions 286 Appendices 289 List of references - Primary sources 313 List of references - Secondary sources 323 9 List of figures 1 The London milk trade to 1933 101 2 The Milk Marketing Board and the London milk trade, 1933-1943 102 3 The Ministry of Food and the London milk trade, 1943-1953 103 4 The bulk road tanker scheme, 1953 104 5 The structure of distribution within the British meat trade, 1919-1960 153 6 Hall’s and Young’s relationship between product characteristics and transaction type 154 7 The structure of meat transport in wartime Britain, 1940-1945 155 8 The British meat distribution, post-1960 157 9 Confectionery transport operations and distribution, 1919-c.1960 201 10 Confectionery transport operations and distribution, 1939-1945 202 11 Confectionery transport operations and distribution, c.1960 onwards 204 12 Rowntree depot locations in the Second World War 227 10 List of figures (continued) 13 The peacetime British food retail supply chain, 1919-c. 1960 245 14 The British food retail supply chain under government direction, 1939-1953 247 15 The peacetime British food supply chain, 1960-1975 248 11 List of graphs 1 Compensation paid per 1,000 tons of goods traffic carried on Britain’s railways (£ sterling), 1920-1938 58 2 LNER cartage service motorisation, 1932-1935 65 3 Estimated British Railways male adults annual wage bill (£ thousands), 1949-1958 86 4 Non-nationalised lorries in Britain (thousands), 1945-1959 87 5 British Railways total merchandise freight traffic (thousand tons), 1948-1959 88 6 Liquid milk for consumption in the UK (million gallons), 1901-1937 97 7 Cost of United Dairies’ milk transport as a percentage of total sales, 1927-1938 99 8 Milk Marketing Board transport deductions as a proportion of total producer contract income, 1935-1975 100 9 Value of gross output of selected agricultural holdings in England and Wales and the economic Depression (£ millions), 1927-1939 119 10 Annual average liquid milk prices in England and Wales (new pence equivalent), 1922-1938 128 11 Total wartime milk production (June-May year) (million gallons), 1939-1945 130 12 Sales of liquid milk for consumption in the UK (million gallons), 1945-1964 141 12 List of graphs (continued) 13 Comparison between total British cattle population