THE decision of Kingsley Cards to move some of its production to China is a disappointment but perhaps not a surprise.

When workers are paid in pennies, not pounds, then the laws of the world economy make it inevitable that the manufacturing will gravitate towards the cheapest source of labour.

Here in the west, while we might mourn the export of jobs, we do little to preserve them at home. The decline and fall of the home car industry, textiles, heavy and light engineering proves that free trade and cheap goods are more powerful influences on our spending habits than emotions.

Kingsley Cards have been in long discussions with the council to find an appropriate site in the Craven locality but, as these things tend to do, the discussions have dragged on. So many agencies are involved - the Environment Agency, the local council for planning consent, the highways authorities - that bringing all the loose ends together is no easy task. It is understandable therefore that Kingsley's managing director expresses his "frustration" at the process - particularly as he has a ticking clock in the background. Given the uncertainty, it is no surprise that Kingsley have followed the trend.

So, by the end of next year, Kingsley's Skipton connection will be over. The rump of the company will be based elsewhere, the production overseas.

Skipton has seen it all before. But given the way the local economy has been transformed to the detriment of large manufacturing concerns, one wonders if we will ever see it again because there is nothing left.