16th century - 1900

• By the 16th century, there was small scale industry primarily in the west of Birmingham where there was a coal seam which provided raw materials for the metalworking industry
• From the late 17th century, into the early 18th century, industrial factories were established and Birmingham was established as a manufacturing hub
• Matthew Boulton built the first factory in the world in 1761 which employed over 700 people and established concepts such as the assembly line
• Canals were then built in the 1800s to transport finished goods and raw materials
• Metalworking industries grew and dominated in Birmingham throughout the 19th century
• As the industrial sector grew, it needed financial services, law firms, and insurance firms to ensure their assets and money were kept safe - this established Lloyds and Midland banks in the mid 19th century
• The Cadbury family were the next players involved since they built a factory on the rural-urban fringe of the city in the 1870s - along with this, they built a 'model village' for their employees with good housing, parks, and recreational facilities