Firstly, I'll address the reason I didn't write 'Who IS Cox'. Cox is our family name, as is the tradition. I am Ollie, my wife is Rebecca, and our children are Robert and Edward in descending height order. Wood-working is my passion but there is no way I would have been able to get more than a week into the process of starting a company if I had not had the support of Bec. In fact, she was the catalyst to my decision to leave a successful but highly stressful teaching career and pursue my dream. The words that turned an idea into potential (and now realised) reality were as follows:
"We've got time to focus and pull this all together. Let's sit down when we get chance and brainstorm what we need to do and learn, and work out who we need to talk to. We can run a business successfully."
These words were sent in a message at a time when I was finding my work / life balance very unbalanced and retirement was, and still is at this point, over 30 gruelling years away. They told me that my wife trusted me to take a calculated risk with our income and my career. I hadn't asked her for permission, I wouldn't have wanted to put that on her. She volunteered this choice to me and gave me such a bright light at the end of the tunnel I stood in.
So that's why Cox covers both of us, because we're a team and we're taking on an exciting new challenge together. We've planned and re-planned everything together, discussed and debated the big decisions and the little ones and now we're ready to start making some beautiful furniture for people. I'll be holding the saw, she'll be working every hour she can to keep our bills paid while the business takes off.
And secondly, the 'Sons'. Our children are 7 and 5 years old at the time of writing. Both of them are creative but Robert is buzzing with passion for Lego over woodwork. Edward, Eddie, is the woodworker of the two. He recently built a fairy house for a school project in his reception class using pine boards and an array of tools that few adults will ever have touched, including a mitre saw, bandsaw, pillar drill, sander and nail gun. I drew the line at him using the spray gun to paint it because the respirator mask doesn't fit his little face tightly enough yet.
But does this explain why they are included in the name of the business? Well, yes. This is a family business. We have all sacrificed to make the idea come to fruition and I hope one day we can pass it on to one or both of them. When we sit around our table in the garden, eating together in the sunshine, we are in our happy place. Our business makes things that bring people together. A coat rack with two adult coats and two children's coats hung on it - a family of coats. A kitchen island with a family sitting around it having breakfast and talking about the day. A dining table with Sunday Lunch or Christmas Dinner, a coffee table with snacks for a family film, a bed frame with the family crammed in for Saturday morning cuddles or Sunday evening story-time. We make things that bring people together and our family is together in the name of the business.
So there you go, welcome to Cox & Sons Bespoke Furniture Ltd. We would love to make you something beautiful that brings you happiness and a chance to share a moment with family, friends, partners or pets.
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