Early Career
From Ryde he moved to Hamilton, Scotland at the age of twenty-three, a change of position that taught him the rudiments of management. Moving yet again, this time to Wishaw in Lanarkshire, he took what was to be his last salaried job, laying down plant and network as Chief Engineer, aged just twenty-four. It was here in 1907 that Cox married the daughter of Wishaw Councillor Miller, the owner of Overton Forge, a Lanarkshire steelworks, and joined the firm as a partner. Unable to leave his post at the power station, he carried out both jobs simultaneously.
By 1913 he set up the firm of Cox and Danks Ltd, with his wife's cousin Tommy Danks as a silent partner and financier. Cox's need for capital was met by Danks who sought a way to increase his inheritance without personal involvement in business. The firm was well positioned to profit from large munitions manufacturing contracts during the First World War. The end of hostilities opened new and lucrative opportunities in scrap and metal salvage, enabling Cox to open new business in Sheffield, and buy out his Danks' interests by 1920.
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