Exon’s. Fred Exon set this up in around 1972 with Tony Rayner of Rayners of Park St, Bristol as a silent partner.
I actually worked there in a gap year and subsequently particularly at Christmas when away from university.
Fred had roles in each of EMI and Polydor before setting up (also) in Oxford Street. It was on the south corner with Union St. The site has been redeveloped since.
I met Gary Bristow who was working as a Saturday boy there. The next year Fred got Gary a job at EMI in West London (Hayes?) as a naive 19 year old his first job was as manager of EMIs telesales office in charge of 40 or so local ladies.
Gary was born on August 16th (1956) an important date in the music world..(think Presley,Winehouse) and coincidentally the exact date of an Armstrong/Fitzgerald recording.
Gary remained with EMI and its successors for forty years until there was one reshuffle/takeover too many.
His last role was as National Classical Sales Manager Richard Watkins. (2023)
“THE ATTEMPT to set up an Independent Record Dealers Association has been pronounced "a dead duck" by the chairman of its short-lived steering committee. Fred Exon, of Exon Records in Weston-super-Mare, told Music Week that he had contacted his fellow steering committee members and other dealers who had written offering to subscribe to the proposed new association to tell them that the project had been abandoned. But he, and GRRC secretary Harry Tipple, commented that the exercise had not been a useless one.”
...and this picture caption on page 20 of the March 18, 1978 edition:
“PICTURED left to right are the panel for the MTA talk-in and industry forum: Maurice Oberstein (CBS), John Fruin (WEA), Harry Tipple, David Burrows, Leslie Hill (EMI), Walter Woyda (Pye) and Fred Exon. With a verdict of 'No Future', there was little to smile about.”