Charles Carlow died in January 1923, succeeded by Augustus Carlow as managing director. But there was no immediate change to the company's expansionary plans. In that same year, the Earl of Rosslyn’s collieries, with a potential output of 500,000 tons, was bought, followed by Oakley Collieries in 1924. That proved to be the last purchase. The British coal industry faced increasing problems in its export markets in the face of competition from France, Germany and Poland, all with lower wages. The lack of competitiveness was exacerbated in April 1925 by the return to the gold standard at a high valuation for sterling. Fife Coal itself was losing money and the pressure on the miners to accept lower wages culminated in the miners strike at the beginning of May 1926. Two days later the TUC called a general strike in support of the miners. After nine days the general strike was called off but the miners struggled on until November.