成人快手

In the beginning

In 1909, Cox & Son, a small shop selling household items, began in Turner Street in Ramsgate.

At the outbreak of the World War One my grandfather joined the army and went off to France and my great-grandfather continued to run the business. The young Mr Cox survived the war, but not without injury, and he re-entered the business after the war.

The Cox & Son shop in the early days

We think Cox & Son moved premises during the late 1920s to 8 Turner Street. The younger Mr Cox and his wife were now the main driving force as Mr Cox senior was approaching retirement age.

The business continued to grow despite the arrival of World War Two but it was then mothballed at the time of the evacuation of Dunkerque. The whole Cox family travelled to South Wales; just one of many Ramsgate families who stood alongside troops returning from France at Ramsgate Station.

Since 1945

After the war and with the threat of having her family home requisitioned due to the acute housing shortage Mrs. Cox, my grandmother, returned quickly to Ramsgate. Immediately she set about re-opening the business and was soon joined by her son-in-law, my father, Mr E. A. Thomas.听

As was common at this time, my grandmother and father worked extremely long hours, often late into the night. By simple hard work and dedication, as well as ingenuity, they re-built the business during the 1950s.

Brothers in business

In 1962 my brother joined the firm. He was meant to enjoy a couple of weeks鈥� holiday before starting but due to some minor crisis he had to forgo his holiday and 鈥渓end a hand鈥�.

During the late sixties my brother鈥檚 drive earned Cox & Son many large contracts throughout the South East. Cox & Son carpeted and curtained many large discos and casinos. One of our specialities at that time was banquette seating and at the height of its popularity we had our own woodwork shop and manufactured everything from the frames through to the finished upholstery.

Peter Thomas outside today's Cox & Son

I joined the business in 1973 having spent a few years in London, first at College and later working for Initial Services.

In 1974 we opened a branch in the Northdown Road, a thriving road of quality independent shops at that time. We enjoyed many profitable years before closing the shop in 1990 as the area started to decline as a shopping destination.

Getting through the hard times

Many will remember the late 1970s as a time of hardship and strife culminating in the Winter of Discontent and the election of Margaret Thatcher. However this was a period of growth for Cox & Son, even during the recessionary years of the early 1980s.

Having carefully saved and re-invested our money during this period we were able, with the help of a small bank loan (although it did not seem small at the time!), to purchase our present building which we moved to in 1984.

What tomorrow brings

In 2009, Cox and Son鈥檚 100th year, the story of our family business continues. We are once again responding to new challenges with the presence of Westwood Cross. And David and I have decided to combine our skills and interests to take advantage of the rapidly changing business opportunities arising from the new type of customer moving into Thanet, and Ramsgate in particular.