The Development of Telecoms - Liverpool
Merseyside, with its river, ships and docks, forms the hub of the area. Consequently, the Liverpool telephone service plays a large part in furthering the export drive. But, besides shipping, many other industries are carried on.
The area contains a sample of nearly every business activity in the country and supports a population of about two million.
The industrial centre is surrounded by rich agricultural lands in South-West Lancashire and North Cheshire, centred on Ormskirk and Warrington.
To the East are the towns of Warrington, St. Helens, Widnes and Runcorn, with their heavy engineering, chemical, glass and coal mining industries. To the West is the residential Wirral Peninsula, far out in the Irish Sea is the Isle of Man, renowned as a holiday resort and the Mecca of racing motor cyclists.
The area covers 680 square miles, wherein 175,000 stations are served by 78 exchanges (47 are automatic) and by 812,000 miles of wire (784,000 miles are underground). About one-third of the stations have been connected since 1945. This has involved a very heavy programme of plant expansion and the adoption of many expedients to exploit the area's resources to the full.
The total staff, including 1,700 engineering and 2,250 operating grades, numbers about 4,500. The annual revenue exceeds £3,000,000.
