A change in labour patterns is undoubtedly crucial in making a pre-industrial society into an industrial one. Like the presence of factories, the destruction of craft skill is widely thought of to be a crucial characteristic of an industrial nation however during the whole of the18th and 19th century as many skills were created as destroyed and skilled labour wages remained high and prevented the substitution of skills by mass production and unskilled or semi - skilled labour. Britain in 1830 had not made one of the more important changes in labour patterns, it remained unorganised and the workforce found itself moving constantly, as very few jobs were permanent. What was needed and didn’t happen until the late 19th century was a "blurring of distinction between skills and an attack on restrictive artisan practices "which would have developed a mass market. However, a crucial change was made by 1830 in labour, work discipline, essential in making an industry as productive as possible was reformed whereby owners forced their employees to be punctual and sober which marked the end of pre-industrial culture.
A characteristic that an industrial nation cannot lack is an absence of poverty. An industrial nation has greater wealth and a higher living standard; people spend less money on food and more on manufactured goods. This is what happened in Britain in the 18th century. Eversley suggests that 3m people in 18th century Britain were drawn above the income line of £50 per annum which separates substance from comfort. Britain witnessed the ‘domino effect’, a term used to describe a situation when one change enables a whole series of changes, and here it means that because of the increase in the quantity and quality of food, the farmers income increased which in turn stimulated the manufactured good production as the farmers had more money to spend on non-essential commodities.
A direct result of the change in labour (from agricultural to industry) was urbanisation which is therefore an indispensable characteristic of an industrial nation. Urbanisation is crucial in that it emphasises the change from self-sufficiency, a characteristic of a pre-industrial society to market dependence, a characteristic of an industrial society. In Britain in 1800, 24% of the population lived in towns and in 1880 80% lived in towns which shows that the process was only partially completed in 1830. The raise in incomes in middle class families is also due to urbanisation as Rule suggests: "The expansion of middle incomes purchasing powers owes a great deal to England’s unique rate of urban growth".
Most of the changes that enabled Britain to transform into an industrial nation required capital and people investing in them hence entrepreneurs are a vital characteristic of an industrial society. However not only entrepreneurs invested in projects, the wealthy and even middle class families invested in industry, trade and transport. Domestic investment as proportion of GNP in 1821 was 3 times higher than the 1700 level and between 1760 and 1800 share of capital investment in industry, trade and transport increased from 5% to 26%. Entrepreneurs invested in new machinery thus causing a ‘domino effect’.
A good transport network is a key characteristic of an industrial nation. By 1830 it has started to develop but has yet to fell the impact of railways. However it should not be forgotten that there were a lot of turnpike trusts which privatised the ownership of roads, over 40 acts per year between 1750 and 1772 which considerably improved roads if they were in the hands of concerned trustees who employed men such as Metcalf, McAdam or Telford. Canals were also very popular and largely invested in. There were 51 acts between 1791 and 1796 which is enormous considering their costs. To handle all the investment and generally the movement of money there had to be a developed banking system. By 1830, many changes had occurred. There were 70 private London banks by 1800 and country banks numbered 900 by 1815. New systems of banking such as payment by cheque, bills of exchange or cost book system were introduced between 1750 and 1830 as well as bill brokers and corporate banks outside London.
Although there were many characteristics of industrialisation present by 1830 not all the regions witnessed the same degrees of change. In Kent and Sussex the Weald industry declined and in Gloucester and Wiltshire the textile industry suffered. By 1830 most of the traits were there and "the country was on the path towards full industrialisation and urbanisation and for many the means of wealth creation were revolutionised".
