An intelligent, easily read topical novel from 1950's Britain.
The action revolves around the firm of Lang's, a parts manufacturer in the Midlands. It pays well and provides good dividends; it has a Works Council since before World War II and a comprehensive welfare system for staff. It is when that company's success finds itself running counter to the private lives and ambitions of the people working for it that the unity becomes unstuck.
Nigel Balchin develops his novel by fleshing out the characters of various members of the staff, and their families, over the course of sudden conflicts which confront the company. These difficulties arise from personal psychological differences, those of class and of business ethics.
The novel never loses its pace; characters are well sketched and varied in temperament and realized as workaday people from the 1950's. The wit, language and manners are recognizable and faithful renditions of the times.
Balchin was a talented industrial psychologist, military planner and advisor, scriptwriter and novelist. This novel is one of his best, just because it is so readable with perfectly recognizable dialogue.
For more about Balchin:
https://balchinfamily.uk/nigel-marlin-balchin-1908-1970