Zlín
As the business grew, Tomas Bata invested in new technology by introducing conveyor belts to his shoe production. Workers from around the world, including a cohort from East Tilbury, visited Zlín to train in the use of these new methods. The town grew. As a direct result of Bata's industrial presence, Zlín's population of 4,000 had increased to 45,000 by the beginning of World War II.
Thereafter, the 40-year toll of socialist regime following Bata's nationalization by the Czechoslovak government in 1945, and the Czech Republic's emergent economic status post-1989, have seen Zlín's decline from a centre of mass shoe manufacture.
