[1] Cockerell returned to England in 1891 and worked as a secretary of the Chiswick School of Arts and Crafts in west London.
[1] His older brother, Sydney Cockerell was a secretary to William Morris of the Kelmscott Press, this introduced him to book arts.
[2] After he completed his apprenticeship, in 1897 he opened his own bindery at 6 Denmark Street, off Charing Cross Road in London and started teaching at the London County Council Central School of Arts and Crafts (now known as Central School of Art and Design).
The founders of the Sangorski & Sutcliffe bookbinder firm met in a Cockerell course at Central School of Art and Design.
[2] On 5 August 1898, Cockerell married Florence Arundel, a craft jeweller who also worked in the bindery at 6 Denmark Street.