XII The entrepreneur in banking: The private bankers of Manchester 1770–1825

Abstract

The essential characteristics of the entrepreneur are illusive; it is not easy to put one's finger on them precisely, and nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the rise of the country banks during the Industrial Revolution. Mantoux, in his classic analysis of the qualities of the entrepreneur in manufacturing, placed at the top of his list their ability as organisers.¹ They needed to be able to manage their cash flows, their labour force, their production processes and so on; and to an extent these same qualities applied to the emergent bankers of this period. Managing their cash flows meant maintaining the correct proportion of liquid assets and not letting their resources get locked up in real estate or unrealisable assets in times of financial panic. Managing their labour force meant enforcing tight discipline upon employees, with great emphasis upon accuracy, punctuality and what might be termed financial prudence, respectability, as opposed to responsibility.² Within the banks the “production processes” were divided between the department run by the accountant and that by the cashier. If either erred, the bank would quickly find itself in trouble. We may accept then that the bankers to the cotton industry were organisers.