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Ron Levett, born in Alfriston, East Sussex, enlisted in 1943, and whilst posted to the British Liberation Army, took part in the liberation of Germany. He then returned to England, setting up his own electronics business and developing an interest in the new entertainment of the time - television.
Frank, my business partner, was living in a council house at The Laines, Alfriston, but decided to build himself a house.
He bought a plot of land from Reg Harmer, designed the house himself, and with the aid of sub-contractors, built the house, carrying out all the electrical work and plumbing, doing most of the carpentry and decorating.
We knew that if we were to increase our shop sales, we needed bigger premises in the high street. The shop at the top of North Street had been empty for quite a time but when we approached John Wilson, the owner, he tried to persuade us to rent it.
We knew that this would not be a good idea in the long run so we held out and after about six months haggling, managed to get the price settled.
We just had enough capital accumulated by this time, but after purchasing we would have no working capital left. However, with a bank loan backed by the three properties, No.1 North Street, my house and Frank's new one, we were in business.
We had a great deal of work to do before we could say that we had a shop. The premises consisted of the shop with living quarters at the side and upstairs. We decided that we would not need the upstairs part at all to start with, so we converted it into a separate flat, with it's own access via the front door.
We rewired the whole place. A new bathroom was installed upstairs, with a kitchen and hot water heater. The shop itself had not been cleaned for years. It had been a cycle and battery charging shop for battery radios.
Mr Broughton carried out repairs to bicycles, supplying tyres and other spares. There was still a smell of rubber and oil in the shop.
We turned the rear end of the shop into an office, building a half wall with glazed upper part. We took up the brick floor, laid under-floor heating cables and laid a quarry tile floor. The ceiling was strip-wood, so after installing new fluorescent lighting, painted it a cheerful yellow.
We built display shelves and covered them with Formica. The walls were bare brick, so we fixed battens vertically, and then covered them with peg-board. This is a form of hardboard with a pattern of holes about 1' apart. There was a range of fittings available that fitted the hole pattern and could be used to support shelves to hold small appliances.
Frank's mother came into the shop after a shopping expedition to Seaford, where she had seen a second-hand till, one of the old ones with a paper feed for recording purchases and a bell which rang when the drawer was opened.
The firm has only just recently bought a new electronic till to replace the old one. Eventually it became almost impossible to obtain the paper till rolls.
Ron Levett, 2001
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