OUR HERITAGE
G B Kent & Sons Ltd, manufacturers of brushes since the eighteenth century, is one of the oldest established companies in Great Britain.


Kent Brushes was founded in 1777 by William Kent in the reign of George III. We hold a pre-eminent place in the history of brush making, with an unbroken record of excellence in the quality of our production, which has been recognised by the granting of Royal Warrants for nine reigns.
The Kent family continued to run the company for six generations until 1932 when the last of the three Kent brothers passed away. Then Mr Eric L.H Cosby, owner of Cosby Brushes Ltd, entered into an association with G.B Kent & Sons. This started a new chapter in Kent’s long history, and since then, Kent Brushes has been under the creative and dynamic direction of the Cosby family.

Kent Brushes was founded in 1777. William Kent establishes his company, GB Kent and Sons Ltd, in London, the same year that groundbreaking research into the discovery of oxygen was published. The business was founded, remarkably, more than 25 years before the invention of the train and the bicycle, and even before iconic landmarks such as Big Ben.
KENT BRUSHES TIMELINE

Today, Mr Alan H.L Cosby, grandson to Eric Cosby, is the Chairman and Managing Director. The company headquarters moved from London to their existing factory in Apsley, Hertfordshire on the 6th February 1904, and remains there to this day.
The company continues to retain the craftsmanship and unprecedented quality that is Kent’s reputation. Even in today’s fast moving, mass-produced assembly, we are proud to still be manufacturing many of their original brushes by hand.
Nevertheless, we are committed to developing and enhancing our products with every step they take. We harness the latest hi-tech manufacturing processes, whilst building on the time-honoured traditional methods to create the world’s finest example of each and every brush that leaves our factory.