The Canvey Supply Company Ltd is a family run business which has been serving the trade and public throughout Essex and the surrounding counties for over 100 years. Canvey Supply was established on the 24th December 1919 by Eugene Lawrence. The original branch from 1919 was located in Canvey Island High Street.

In the years before the second world war, Canvey Island was developed quite rapidly and Canvey Supply was very busy supplying most of the materials for the development. Most of the roads were unmade and deliveries were done by horses with carts fitted with runners instead of wheels. A Wharf was built, along side one of the current branches at Canvey Supply the Point, for the unloading of the Thames Barges the ‘Kate’ and the ‘Garland’.

During the Second World War, the firm temporarily merged with a firm of civil engineers, to create thousands of concrete domestic air-raid shelters which were prefabricated and installed. They also created defence installations which were built round various parts of the coast, including anti-tank defences.

In 1975, Eugene Lawrence’s sons, John and Tom, expanded from Canvey Island. The company bought a site near the Manor Trading Estate in Benfleet. Then, in 1980, the company saw an opportunity to buy an old brewery site on London Road Benfleet and sold the earlier site. To this day, the company still have this branch along with the Point Road branch, Canvey Island.

Eugene Lawrence remained at the helm of The Canvey Supply Company Ltd until 1968. John Lawrence, his wife Vera and Tom Lawrence took over managing the company in 1968. The company is still a family run business.