January 23, 2021 Dr. Martens has come a long way from 1960, when the company’s now-famous boots started rolling out of a factory in a small English town. Its journey from provincial beginnings to global fashion symbol traces Britain’s history as it became a financial powerhouse. As the iconic boot company prepares to join the UK’s public market, it’s an open question whether the country’s financial sector can pull off a similar reinvention . When Bill Griggs and his family bought the license for an air-cushioned sole for work boots, the British economy was thriving, though not quite as much as its peers in Europe. “European economies in general, including industry, had a boom period after World War II,” said Dr. David Chambers, a professor at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. “Growth, including industrial output, was fairly strong in most countries. The UK was one of the laggards, however.”