SIR – On a miserable winter evening, I have read a warming contribution by Chris Holland in the T&A about Airedale Springs, a firm which suffered a terrible factory fire.

Enough of a disaster to discourage any business to lose heart, but Tim and Sean Parkinson obviously had the Winston Churchill spirit: “We will never surrender”.

So Gordon Parkinson and his son Michael would have reason to be proud to know that the firm now has a modern and successful new building producing extremely useful springs.

Apart from being able to help us all, I feel sure that Tim and Sean respect and value their employees. It is good too that ‘competition’ helped them to recover from the disaster.

As Winston quoted from Arthur Hugh Clough the inspiring words: “But Westward look, the land is bright!”

Thank you, Mr Holland, for such an inspiring article.

Geoffrey Smith, Nab Wood Crescent, Shipley