It’s an exciting year for Cook Group, as 2024 is the 50th anniversary of our company being founded by Ted Cook. We started doing business on 21st August 1974 under the name Cook Damp and Decay, originally focusing on preservation jobs for domestic customers.
Things have changed a lot since then, both here at Cook Group and in the wider world. To celebrate our special anniversary, we decided to launch a series of monthly blog posts that share interesting facts from the last fifty years. But first, here’s a bit more about us…
A true family business
Back in the day, we were providing domestic services for damp-related problems and quickly built an excellent reputation across Hull and East Yorkshire. Our current Managing Director, Dave Cook, joined the family business in 1986 as a labourer. After a few years of lugging around his wheelbarrow filled with concrete, everyone agreed that he was just too sweaty to carry on in this role. That’s why he soon gained his surveying qualifications and swiftly progressed through the ranks. Dave’s sister, Debbie, joined the business in 1995, and Dave took over the management of the company in 1997 when Ted retired.
You can’t beat a good carpet
As you’d expect, a lot happened over the years, and one of the things that we remember most clearly is the godawful carpet we used to have. Our original premises were very old-fashioned, with wood panelling that had seen better days and a carpet that would have walked away if given the chance. Luckily, we carried out a job for Hessle Town Council in the 1970s and they let us keep the carpet from the Lord Mayor’s Parlour (la-dee-dah!). it remained in our offices until we relocated over thirty years later. We’re all about sustainability here at Cook Group!
2000 to today
At the very end of the 20th century we were a bit worried that the world might end. However, 1st January 2000 arrived and Y2K hadn’t blown us up after all, so we returned to work and got cracking. Business was booming (so to speak) and we continued to grow our company in order to keep up with demand.
Fast forward to 2007 and we were particularly busy due to the floods that swept across Hull that year. Our team helped countless homeowners to rebuild their properties following devastating water ingress, allowing people to move back into their homes following months living with relatives or in caravans.
A little while later, in 2009, we moved into our own new home on Pearson Way off Clough Road. The place hadn’t been decorated since the 1960s (“It looked like a set from Heartbeat”, says Dave), so we made sure to modernise it and began our transition into a dedicated provider of commercial waterproofing and gas membranes.
2010 was the year when we became a founding member of the National Waterproofing Group, a network of waterproofing specialists based all around the UK. In 2014 Dave was feeling particularly inspired, so he wrote an epic paper on lipid waterproofing that makes the complete works of Shakespeare look like the scribblings of a child. By 2021 we’d created our comprehensive sustainability strategy, which began with taking on our first electric vehicles and continues to develop with solar panels, energy independence, a wide range of recycling initiatives, and a lovely office plant called Davey Junior.
As a family-owned company that’s committed to excellence, we continue to invest in our staff, premises and fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles. We’re proud members of the Property Care Association and we even have a test bed for products in our own yard. It’s an exciting time to work at Cook Group and we’re always on the lookout for passionate people to join our team, so make sure to get in touch if you’re interested in work experience, apprenticeships or career opportunities.
But enough about us…
We mentioned that we’re going to share monthly blogs looking at how particular areas of life have changed over the last five decades. Now that we’re at the end of Dry January, let’s take a look at how booze has evolved since 1974.
- 1974: It was the golden age of British breweries. On average in the UK, a pint of beer would cost you 22½p and probably a fair bit cheaper if you lived in good old Hull. Meanwhile, a bottle of whisky was about £2.57. We’ll drink to that!
- 1977: Michael Jackson (not the “hee-heee!” one) released The World Guide to Beer. This led to British drinkers becoming a lot more interested in imported beers such as Beck’s, Heineken, Grolsch, Budweiser, Peroni, San Miguel and many more.
- 1979: Love it or hate it, the first Wetherspoons pub was opened by Tim Martin. Over the next few years, he opened one or two others here and there.
- 1989: The Beer Orders came into effect (no, that doesn’t mean when your mate gets a round in). These two pieces of legislation restricted the number of tied pubs that could be owned by large brewery groups to 2,000, and required large brewer landlords to offer at least one guest ale recommended by their tenants. This didn’t last very long though, as The Beer Orders were revoked in 2003.
- 1993: After a bit of a slump, Babycham underwent a major brand relaunch, with Babycham Babe beauty contests returning in 1997.
- 2001: NatWest launched its multi-million-pound advertising campaign that poked fun at its competitors, with a little old lady being unhappy that her local bank branch had been turned into a “trendy wine bar”.
- 2004: Beer vocabulary was changing around this time, as “real ale” now included bottle-conditioned beer and “cask ale” was globally accepted to mean a beer not served under pressure. The ever-growing community of hipsters rejoiced and are still talking about it to this day.
- 2005: The Licensing Act 2003 finally comes into effect, allowing pubs to open for as long as they like. The nation’s students were very excited about the concept of 24-hour pubs, but very few venues decided to stay open much later than normal.
- 2009: Guinness celebrates 250 years of bringing good things to those who wait.
- 2010s: The Craft Beer Revolution! No matter where you turned, from your local salt-of-the-earth boozer to swanky high street bars, the words “craft beer” took pride of place on advertising boards and wall-mounted menus. The term “hop-forward” became a thing too, although no one to this day really knows what it means outside of “it’s pretty hoppy, innit?”
- 2020 onwards: The covid-19 pandemic resulted in many Brits building bars in their homes and gardens as a way to remain sane during the lockdowns. Canned beers are now more popular than ever as a result, especially those from groovy independent breweries with migraine-inducing artwork.
Coming up next…
Make sure to check our blog each month during 2024 for more short histories of stuff we find interesting. We’re going to cover everything from kipper ties to fish and chip butties, so there’s something for everyone!