About Us
In 1955 George applied for an apprenticeship with a local office equipment firm in Hastings, and was indentured for a six year term as a typewriter mechanic. The first year he was the general dogs body to the more senior engineers, getting their teas etc but learning all the time. The Second year, he along with older colleagues covered firms all over East Sussex, servicing their valued office machines, and also visited several famous authors, servicing their beloved typewriters. Before computers these writers valued their typewriters as essential assets.
A young George in his first year of apprenticeship at J.S. Beeching Typewriters Ltd Hastings (1955).
He entered National service in 1960-1962, and was in an exclusive RAOC unit supporting field operations by Parachute regiment in Europe and Africa. He returned to the firm as a qualified engineer, and after several years, the business was taken over by a much larger company, and eventually he was promoted to service manager, with ten engineers working under him. In that period he engaged apprentices, including his son Neil. He personally trained them in all aspects of work for five years, whilst he removed the old methods of 'tea boys' and errand runners which he endured, and fully concentrated on all aspects of being engineers. Neil completed his apprenticeship as a fully qualified typewriter engineer in 1985.
George & Neil at their first typewriter shop in Hastings(1986)
In 1986 after several more company changes, George and Neil left to open their own business, and his wife Joan ran the accounts and served in the shop. The business became established and they were rewarded with acquiring the main dealership's of Triumph-Adler and Olympia Business Machines for the East Sussex area. Later they opened a larger showroom premises in nearby Bexhill and became sales and servicing engineers. In the 1980's there was a natural downturn in the typewriter trade, as more modern electronic equipment became the norm, computers, dictation machines, fax machines and printers etc.
Later they became aware that typewriter repairs were beginning to increase again, and sales of vintage typewriters became more and more requested. The young and old were now concentrating on the more finely designed retro manufactured machines.
Our second typewriter shop opened 1995 in Bexhill-on-sea.
Now we see many old models for sale on websites at increasing prices, however most have had no specialist attention after years of neglect, and we are regularly contacted to repair and service these models. Our own vintage typewriters have all been through extensive servicing and renovation, before going on sale.
Our firm is now regarded as specialists in this field, and we have appeared in several BBC interviews. We have also featured in major articles for English and foreign newspapers, who are interested in the resurgence of vintage typewriters.
We have supplied typewriters for many famous celebrity presenters and actors, in television and film, and have supplied to film companies for use in major productions, and for television adds using typewriters as props to enhance their products.
George & Neil appearing on BBC South East Today.
The BBC and other media contacted us, when it became known George was the engineer who serviced and repaired author Winston Graham's typewriter. For many years he typed all his Poldark novels on this machine.
We realize that new generations have no knowledge of mechanical typing, but are now becoming interested in how complex and clever the designers of these retro models were. There are now many serious collectors of these fine retro typewriters throughout Europe and the U.S.A. Many of these models feature as examples of design in museums.
In January 2020, the covid 19 pandemic hit the UK, and our shop in Bexhill was legally forced to close.
George, now 81 decided to take more of a back seat, popping in a few days a week to help out. During the lockdown period, vintage typewriter sales exploded.
Neil's wife Nicky joined the family firm, packing up typewriters for shipment across the UK, running the accounts, and helping with the stationery side of the business.
Sadly in the spring of 2023, George unexpectedly passed away peacefully at home.
After 44 years as a typewriter engineer, Neil is carrying on the family business he started with his father in 1986, with the help of Nicky.
He is determined to keep to George's high standards of workmanship and service, a thing he was taught as a young apprentice engineer.
Now in July 2024, Neil and Nicky's son George has joined the family business. As Neil trained under his father, now George trains under Neil's expert supervision carrying on a family tradition spanning decades.
Our aim is to keep these wonderful old mechanical writing machines working into the future for people to enjoy.
