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The staff and owners of Manchester tea-bag maker JR Crompton thought a sympathetic bank manager would rescue them in times of trouble; after all, the company had been around since 1856. What they didn't know was their future was in the hands of young, aggressive traders in a well-known investment bank in London. The traders had bought parts of the company's debt, gaining enough control to block a proposed restructuring. The company was pushed into administration and the assets sold. Crompton ceased to exist.