Southend's Ekco from history

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Eric Kirkham Cole was born in Rochford and in 1924 founded his own wireless radio and television manufacturing company in Leigh-on-Sea near Southend. E.K. Cole - known as Ekco - would later expand to produce many different plastic products, including toilet seats, utensils and tape recorders. Audrey Snee, publisher of the book 'Ekco Sounds - How a Radio Maker Changed the World,' explains how Eric and his business also played a key role in World War Two. (Picture credit: Anne Schwegmann-Fielding)