A BUSINESSMAN will reveal his rags to riches story at the Bradford Literature Festival.

Gordon Black, who was chairman of Keighley-based Peter Black Holdings between 1977 and 2007, will speak at the festival about his book, From Bags to Blenders, at the University of Bradford’s small hall, Richmond Road, on Thursday, July 6, at 7.30pm.

He will talk about how Peter Black Holdings, which was founded in the 1940s, became a business worth £300 million with 3,000 employees before it was sold to Chinese trading firm Li & Fung for £48m.

Initially using old army webbing to make shopping bags, Peter Black became one of Marks & Spencer’s leading suppliers. It was once said that every family in Keighley had someone working at the firm.

By the 1990s times were changing in Black’s key markets, with the footwear business particularly affected by evolving tastes and cheap foreign imports.

Hundreds of jobs were lost in the early 1990s, and another 285 in 1995 as footwear manufacturing closed.

Its three operations, beauty products, footwear and logistics, had a total turnover of £240 million, when it was sold in 2007.

The firm’s customers include many leading UK retailers such as Next, Boots and Body Shop.

It provides goods manufactured in 210 factories in East Europe, India and the Far East. Peter Black International was bought by Leeds-based fund Endless in 2006. Endless had backed a secondary buyout by Gordon Black and chief executive Stephen Lister.

Mr Black said: “One of the key tenets of my working life, and a crucial theme in my book, is that a good business should not be driven by greed, self-interest and exploitation, but loyalty, co-operation and integrity.

“I remember my father telling me that he hated being employed at the start of his career; so much so that he vowed, if he ever became the boss, to create a happy and enlightened working environment.

“As the first chairman of the Yorkshire-based Peter Black Holdings, he was the master of the small gesture, which demonstrated that he had a genuine concern for the welfare of his employees.”

More than 350 events will be held as part of this year’s Bradford Literature Festival, which runs from Friday, June 30, to Sunday, July 9, after the full programme was announced.

The events will be held across the city at venues including the University of Bradford, City Park and City Hall.

These include a dedicated Comic Con weekend, on July 1 and 2, which will celebrate comics and Manga, will be held at the University of Bradford.

Former Top Gear host Tiff Needell will be in conversation on Saturday, July 8, from 11.15am.

Feminist Germaine Greer, alongside Boyd Tonkin, will hold a talk called Gender Expectation in the Lives of the Brontes, on Saturday, July 8, from 2.15pm.

A host of celebrities, including Radio One DJ Gemma Cairney, will also appear at the festival, sponsored by the Provident Financial Group.

For a full line-up of events, and to buy tickets, visit bradfordlitfest.co.uk.