messrs wright, the bankers of nottingham, recommended that richard arkwright apply to strutt and need for finance for his cotton spinning mill. the first mill opened in nottingham in 1770 and was driven by horses. in 1771 richard arkwright, samuel need and jedediah strutt built the world's first commercially successful water-powered cotton spinning mill at cromford, derbyshire, developing a form of power that was to be a catalyst for the industrial revolution.