Part 2: Lost in London

Part 1 can be found at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/life-bryan-part-1-beginning-bryan-matthew-wilkes-jvr0e

London Calling: I arrived in London on the 20th September 1967. I had been to London on one previous occasion, (10 months earlier) to see Pete Seeger at the Royal Festival Hall. On that first occasion, I had travelled by train with my friend Terry Baxter. Terry was an army musician from Birmingham. He was based at the Doniford camp (just outside Watchet) and in addition to his band instruments he played folk guitar. It was Terry who taught me to play, and gave me a repertoire of songs. In Watchet we mainly gathered in the Bell Inn, in Market Street. A group of perhaps 5 or 6 with guitars, and a crowd who liked Irish and modern folk music - good business for the landlord!

I diverge, Pete Seeger was amazing, and perhaps that was when I first got the idea of moving to London. I had also just failed my driving test, so generally a bit in need of a change.

This time, I hitchhiked from Taunton, and spent the first night with the only person I knew in London, in Clapham Common.

The following day I headed for central London (Tottenham Court Road) aiming to find a job and accommodation there….. I fully appreciate now how naive that sounds, but in my imagination, London had only one centre, where all the activity was, and then surrounding outer rings of housing. I had no concept of all the “villages” or areas that made up London such as Hampstead, Elephant and Castle, Turnham Green etc. Now this is amazing - but as I stood on the corner by the tube entrance, out of a shop came James?Spenceley (Jim) a chap I had only met a couple of times before - when he was visiting friends in the Watchet area. He was just as surprised to see me, (with my case and guitar) and straight away offered that I could spend a couple of nights at his place in Kilburn. So Lucky.

I started looking for work straight away in Kilburn, but the only job I saw advertised was for a “Progress Chaser”. I applied (even though I had no idea what the job entailed), they gave me a nice interview, but no job - their loss?

Later that day I killed a bit of time using a tape machine Jim had, to practice a couple of songs - two years later that turned out to be a good thing.

The next morning I took my guitar and suitcase and went down to Bunjies Folk Cellar in Lichfield Street, WC2. Bunjies was a 400 year old wine cellar that became an influential music venue in the 1960s. It was visited by Tom Paxton, Bert Jansch, Bob Dylan, Al Stewart, Phil Collins, Art Garfunkel and many other upcoming and celebrity musicians. On the day of my visit, the evening slot was hosted by Amory Kane (derived from "Ameri-can”?) a folk singer from the USA.

The format at Bunjies was that “the host” got the “door money”, other singers (who would sing 1 - 3 songs) got in free. I was asking everyone if they knew of a place to stay - (I had no where for that night) - and Amory suggested I could try where he was, a place in W12. Unfortunately (he advised) this would have to be the next day as it was now late at night.

So I spent that night around Leicester Square and Fleet Street as these seemed the most lively (and safe) areas. I did try to rest on a park bench but the police were having none of it, and moved me on each time I was horizontal. Anyway, as I had my guitar and a suitcase with me, I needed to be attentive. Actually it was not too bad, (but I was not looking to repeat it). I got chatting to a few other guys and girls who had arrived in London that day and also had nowhere to go. We were all aware there were some “characters” around it was better to stay clear of. As soon as the Underground tube system opened I was on my way - to what I assumed was a country area outside London, well the name of the area is Shepherds Bush.

Upon arrival I could see immediately I was in for a long walk, so I asked a shop near the tube if they would look after my things, and I set of for Becklow Road (off the Askew Road) generally a scruffy sort of area. The New Victoria was a hostel where two or three guys shared each room. I was in luck, they had space - I was allocated a bed in room 7 shared with two others.

I recovered my possessions and started to explore the area. That evening I met my two new companions in this rather “transit” accommodation. Tony Skipper (later to be Lord Mayor of Coventry 2017 /18) to whom I owe eternal thanks, as it was he who 7 years later (1974) introduced me to my future wife! The other sharer was Tom Gardener from Ireland. He claimed he was an air traffic controller, but I later heard he worked in the local Pie factory? Who knows?

I immediately started to look for work, I did not have much of a financial reserve. The nearest main road was the Askew Road, so I looked down there until I came to the Goldhawk road junction. There, on the opposite side of the road, outside a nondescript building, I saw various boxed washing machines and refrigerators being loaded on the a van. I was straight in, asking if there were any jobs.

This was Strydex and after a short interview with Mr Les Tether, I had a job. I think I was paid ￡10 a week, initially I was happy with that.

After a few days, they established I had a working knowledge of most domestic electrical appliances. They then moved me to a new job. In fact I soon learnt that switching jobs around was a constant at Strydex. So what was my first role at Strydex? I was in the basement humping boxes of rubber boots about.

Strydex had a sister company “Robisoles” that sold these boots to the London Councils, London Transport, and commercial companies. In fact when Les Tether and his wife Doris set up Strydex in 1956. It was a “rubber” business. In those days people removed surplus water from washed clothes with a wringer or mangle (your mother or grandmother will have used one) and Strydex was manufacturing the rubber rollers for these “stand alone” and attachment wringers.

Being in the rubber business, wholesale rubber footwear was also part of their remit. Oh what a world of pleasure! We offered protection from a choice of dangers:?water (naturally),?anti-slip, mechanical,?thermal, electrical,?chemical, etc. Composition you ask?: Natural, Nitrite, PVC, PU. Anyone for an “optional” steel toecap? A wide selection of sizes of course. What all these boots had in common is that they were all packed in large heavy unwieldy boxes. They were all in the basement, and I was in there alone with them!

Fortunately, someone saw the light (that I was not the ideal person for this work) and I saw the light, being promoted to the shop floor (sweeping it) - at least I was back in electricals.

Gradually I came to understand the unique nature of this company. Making rubber wringers for washing machines had somehow led to a Hoover dealership. From there Strydex was “up and away”.

Strydex hit on a really clever marketing route - Staff Clubs avoid MRPM

The councils and other companies that Strydex dealt with were large and had staff clubs and one of the benefits these clubs offered was a way to avoid “Minimum Resale Price Maintenance” . Manufacturers set a retail price for goods and a shop could not sell at above or below these prices.

Via the club route, Strydex was offering substantial discounts that could not be obtained elsewhere. Large companies across all industries, probably most of the FTSE100 companies, plus hospitals, councils, societies, sports clubs all could get up to 20% off via Strydex. In 1964 MRPM had been discontinued, but the strength of the buying club had not yet abated. Comet, the best known UK discounter, did not open its first large store (in Hull) until 1968. So I was finding Strydex probably at its peak. At Floyds, we sold a couple of vacuum cleaners a week, maybe two or three twin-tub washing machines a month, etc. At Strydex a van load of white goods left every day. We ordered Hoover Junior vacuums 50 at a time, and they would be gone in a week or two. Masses of food mixers, hair dryers, electric shavers, refrigerators, freezers etc passed through the business each month.

The MD Joe Joseph & his right hand man Tim Dale sat upstairs facing each other over large desks (at the front window) and handled the largest accounts. For a while, I was on stock control in this same office, so I got a good education regarding how the business model worked.

At Floyds we had regular visits from the reps of companies such as Electrolux and Hoover, but at Strydex it was the “big wigs” who came to take the Tethers and Joe out for lunch, armed with cigars and gifts. Strydex was a major account.

Downstairs at the back of the showroom was the telephone sales office. 4 / 6 staff worked here taking telephone orders 6 days a week. After a year or so on the order desk and in the showroom, I got a new job buying (from 3 wholesalers) all the small appliance orders that had come in each day that were not in stock.

Strydex normally got trade price - 5% to 7.5% when ordering just a few items. I managed to get a company called ER Harveyson based in Finchley (north London) to offer 10% off trade on all small appliances, regardless of quantity. Strydex had good relations with a number of larger retailers in London who would help each other out if products were in short supply. I found I could exploit this further, as some seemed to have better buying terms than others and could offer really good prices.

By now I had moved into a a bedsit near Strand on the Green. My life consisted of a breakfast roll, go to work, sticky bun for lunch, work, chips with something, fish or sausage, or saveloy, (not at all a healthy diet) then out to a folk club.

This would mainly be Bunjies sometimes “Les Cousins” in Greek Street and so to bed.

Strydex also had a “service department” in which I had a brief stint, deploying the engineers to their next jobs. This was not for me, I had so many “uncompleted jobs” and engineers not reporting in, “dockets” everywhere. A mild case of Responsibility without Authority (or training) - let’s just say I was too young!

I gradually got involved in buying a wider range of products, but my pay had only increased by a couple of pounds. I was getting restless.

During my period at Strydex it employed around a dozen staff (plus service engineers) and productivity / turnover was outstanding.

In December 1969 Sue Pulley at Harveyson’s indicated to me that they were interested in meeting me. So on the pretext of trying to negotiate a better deal, I went across and met Mr Dennis Kyle the MD who offered an increased (12%) discount for Strydex and a job for me (at a far better wage rate) in their buying department. I accepted and moved my work from W12 to N3 in Jan 1970.

At this stage of my career I would say I was conscientious - but not ambitious, music was still my main drive.

I maintained regular contact with Strydex long after I left employment there, and they were very important when I set up my first business. Unfortunately as discounting became the norm, and stores like Tempo and Comet spread, the club concept became less viable. As a retailer, Strydex was in a poor location and the store was too small and lacked parking. It failed to adapt - it perhaps could have been as big as Comet, but Mr and Mrs Tether wanted to retire and a management buyout did not have the financial backing or vision to allow it to grow and it retreated into being a small retailer. In this article from 1976, they have only 4 employees.

Contacts: I was only at Strydex for 28 months, but I left with a handful of business cards that would serve me well for years ahead.

Note: Our business neighbours at Strydex: - to the right, a car showroom sold a very exotic line up of giant American cars. The current A C Automotive website claims “We are the oldest workshop in London specializing in American Cars with 38+ years' experience from classic muscle to latest 4 x 4s”. Maybe the company name changed, but it is at least 55 years this site has traded US vehicles. To the left side is a large corner pub. At that time called the “Half Moon & Seven Stars which dates back to at least 1862. I think it is now The Oak having changed its name many times. I probably spent too much time and money in the “Seven Stars” as we called it.

Memories:

Stop and Think: Periodically I would visit my parents in Watchet. I remember on one occasion going back to Floyds to visit my old boss Eric Roots. I was regaling him with all the wonders of Strydex, the marvels of this unique marketing phenomenon, really enthusiastic. At the end of it all he simply asked - “and what’s in all that for you?” I was speechless, he was right, I could barely feed myself, and hitching lifts everywhere to save money. This little comment was probably the cause of my move to Harveysons.

Hostel living: One evening it was my turn to cross the road the get the chips (and whatever) for the 3 of us. On the way back, a group of guys decided it would be fun to grab the meals and throw them on the pavement. Great, we did not eat that night.

Fuses: “Do not try this at home” - Grove Park Road. Living in a house where every room has a different tenant, can be fun, but it puts a strain on the electrical supply. In winter when we were all home, the fuses would blow continually. One day someone had the idea of trying one of my old guitar strings instead of a normal fuse wire. We found the “D” string was perfect for the job. We had one minor incident where a long haired chap caught his hair on fire whilst “rewiring” the box, but we somehow avoided burning the house down.

The piggyback: Same shared house, there is a party! So as the evening wore on, I was getting tired and decided to call it a night and slip away quietly. However I found an unknown female who had obviously far too much alcohol, sprawled across my bed asleep. The party was winding down, and I hoped she would be “collected” shortly, so I wondered back towards the party. On the way I met another girl who had decided to go home, and she asked me if I would walk her part of the way home as she went along Strand on the Green, a beautiful stretch of housing along the Thames riverside, but at night a bit dark and isolated. We set off and chatted as we progressed along the river, until suddenly we realised the water had risen and was completely covering the path in front of us. Behind us the same thing had happened. In just a few minutes a dry path became indistinguishable from the fast flowing river. It was quite alarming. It must have been a freak high tide with full moon. Now suddenly the girl is up on a low wall “hanging on to the railings” of the building we are passing. She will not come down. The water is visibly getting deeper ever minute. She says she wants me to piggyback her out to dry land. OK - she jumps on my back, I take a couple of steps forward, trip over something under the water and - down we go - now both totally soaked.

The worst was to come - you may know the scene in “Fawlty Towers” where Basil is beating his car with a tree branch. Well this is the same story, except I am in the place of the car… The girl has recovered her footing, picked up a large - wet, foliage laden branch and starts whacking me with it. She’s chasing me, and I’m running - (at least we can get to dry land) - higher ground, we are safe! Well I’m not, she is still after me. We part ways without a word of farewell. I would be interested to hear her version of what took place - if you are out there - get in touch… I went home - my bed was vacant but, (how can I put it), compromised by a little illness this other girl had suffered. A night to forget - but I can’t.

Time for me to go wholesale….

In the Next Issue: E R Harveysons (part of Philips Electrical) - I invent new tactics, and start my first business - from home.

Future Issues: Two examples of “Pull Marketing” that put me in prime position.

Name Check: The Strydex team: Ken Oughton, Bryan Millard, Brian Edgington, Norman ?, Alf Speachley

Index: (from now on I will start an index of companies mentioned - not much yet, but this will shortly grow rapidly)

Issue One: Floyds of Minehead - Butlins Holiday Camp

Issue Two: Strydex Ltd - E R Harveysons - A C Automotive

Please share this Newsletter with others you may think will find it of interest, and feel free to comment on the content or add / ask for additional information.

Extra Note: On the very day I am due to publish this instalment Linkedin have changed the settings, and the entire layout of the above newsletter was lost, and defaulted to the layout above - with all photos large and placed in the centre. Once I figure out how to control this I will try to wrap the text around smaller photos. Best I can do for now!

Part 1 can be found at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/life-bryan-part-1-beginning-bryan-matthew-wilkes-jvr0e