SHOE firm New Balance celebrates 100 years in business next year, and workers at its Flimby factory have been presented with a glossy 260-page book chronicling the history of the company.

The firm started as a manufacturer of supports for people with problem feet in 1906. Thirty three-year-old English immigrant William J Riley founded the firm as New Balance Arch in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

His first product was a flexible triangular arch support, based on a chicken’s foot.

Riley claimed that chickens had perfect balance because of their three toes and kept a chicken’s foot on his desk to explain this to customers.

It is believed its arch support was marketed to police, fire and mail workers and others who spent all day on their feet.

The company survived the Great Depression of the 1930s and, in 1954, Riley’s former partner Arthur Hall sold the business to his daughter and son-in-law Eleanor and Paul Kidd.

Arch supports and prescription footwear remained the cornerstone of their business until 1961 when they manufactured the Trackster, the world’s first performance running shoe made with a ripple sole and available in multiple widths.

Current owner Jim Davis bought the company from the Kidds in 1972 and chose Lillyhall, Workington, to open the firm’s first UK factory in 1982.

Prince Charles visited in 1985 and employees cheered as he walked through the factory offering encouragement.

The company outgrew its surroundings and moved to its St Helen’s Lane, Flimby, base in 1991, at which time it produced 3,000 pairs of shoes a week.

Production has since increased seven-fold to 28,000 pairs a week and the factory now employs more than 210 staff.

The West Cumbrian arm of the operation was at the forefront of the development of the firm’s football boot range.

Former England soccer captain Bryan Robson helped design a series of high-performance boots and was a regular visitor to West Cumbria.

More recently, staff took a special order from Australian fast bowler Brett Lee for a pair of trainers during the recent Ashes cricket series.

They produced a pair of green and yellow shoes, based on the Aussie flag, with Lee’s nickname Binga sewn into the tongue.

The company admits it benefits massively from the ‘made in England’ tag it can brand its Flimby-made shoes with.

Sales in Italy and Japan in particular have been boosted by the cachet provided by a UK-manufactured product.