Outfits

In post war Britain there was a desperate need, among some of the less well paid public service areas unable to match wages with booming industries, for semi-skilled staff to fill the jobs that many rejected. In answer to this came Abdul Kader, who arrived in Bradford in 1957 with a float of £50 to keep him going while he sought work. Undaunted the young Abdul Kader did what go-getters faced with problems do best. He outworked the natives in his desire to succeed, first of all as a bus conductor with responsibility for ticket sales and accounting, driver liaison and passenger safety on the door-less buses of the time. Within six years he had saved a sufficient amount to pay the deposit on an old chip shop going for £1000. He continued to work double shifts while Mrs Maryam Kader put in similar hours as a dressmaker in their corner drapery shop at 306 Great Horton Road Bradford. For sixteen years the man and wife team served the Asian community in their Bradford heartland selling Lancashire cottons to Yorkshire Asians. As the British textile industry entered its sad decline the Kaders automatically turned to their homeland in South East […]