Davis & Shirtliff, the leading water and energy equipment supplier in East Africa is celebrating its 75th Anniversary, a significant milestone in its corporate history. This is a most unusual achievement for any organisation, though particularly one which has the same household shareholding and essentially the identical market focus since its founding. There are few companies anyplace with this declare and D&S is subsequently extremely pleased with the achievement with various occasions being held in celebration.
The company was founded in 1946 by ex-soldiers Eddie Davis and Dick Shirtliff after leaving the army, initially being based at Westlands, in Nairobi, their neighbour being Westlands Motors that rose to prominence with the Toyota franchise.
It grew rapidly because the nation recovered after the struggle focusing on boreholes, water provides and the espresso industry. pressure gauge ราคา included the water supply for Karen Estates, the entire preliminary water provide infrastructure being put in by the company as well as for a lot of different of the residential estates that had been developed at that time.
D&S grew with the country and within the mid-1950s the bottom was moved to new bigger premises at the present Dundori Rd location in the industrial space. An added activity was swimming pools, both residential and industrial and tons of had been built that are nonetheless in use today. Water Treatment was another diversification, lots of the KenGen Tana River stations having D&S designed and built equipment.
In 1970 partner Dick Shirtliff retired and after a period with one other partner, Devji Shingadia, the Davis household, then represented by Eddie’s son Alec assumed management. The 70’s and 80’s saw sluggish however regular progress because the nation grappled with varied financial and political challenges, although there was a particular focus on building the pump enterprise for which the company is so well known, notably through illustration of the Danish manufacturer Grundfos.
1993 was a big yr for both Kenya and D&S as a end result of economic liberalisation which was the catalyst for the company’s fast development since. It was also the 12 months that Pedrollo pumps from Italy had been first introduced, now the Group’s largest provider. These two developments enabled a distribution technique to be developed as supply constraints have been removed and the branch network was then established, initially with Kenya branches being opened in Westlands, Eldoret and Kisumu and subsidiaries in Uganda and Tanzania soon adopted by establishing activities on the Coast although the merger with associate Butech. The pump enterprise grew hugely with Pedrollo and the now well-established Solar and Power Generation actions have been then added.
Since the Millennium development has significantly accelerated, revenue increasing many times to KShs10 Billion right now. Major initiatives have included a complete redevelopment of the Dundori Rd site with growth into adjacent plots, the opening of subsidiaries and associate corporations in Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and DRC, appreciable progress of the branch community, introduction of the successful Dayliff vary of own-brand merchandise and an enormous expansion of the product range with Solar being especially successful as the company developed its focus on renewable power. More recently a significant growth has been establishment of an enormous 10,000m2 Distribution Centre at Tatu City that provides the resource for elevated stockholding and has reworked distribution effectivity throughout the area, this facility being accomplished in 2020. Staffing has additionally grown correspondingly, the Group now employing over 1000 dedicated staff working from over 70 areas.
It is usually mentioned that success is transitory and sometimes unsustainable, though D&S has managed to keep up unbroken progress for an distinctive time frame. This has been achieved by commercial focus, manageable ambition, continuous physical and organisational investment and, importantly, dwelling the values established by the founders of Quality, Integrity and ‘Altiora Peto’, which translates to embracing steady change. D&S is now a widely recognised company within the area and is proud of the contribution it has made, summarised by its slogan ‘Improving Lives’ which is demonstrated each by the important nature of its activities and likewise by an lively programme of neighborhood assist that focuses on offering water to underprivileged communities, many hundreds of people having benefited.
Of course, the 75-year milestone is just a second in a continuous journey and the Group continues to develop with a variety of ongoing initiatives and great plans for the longer term. Ably led by CEO David Gatende and supported by devoted and committed executives and workers driving this growth, the corporate is lucky that the third generation of Davis’s, Edward and Henry, have joined the enterprise so continuity is assured. The Group continues to expand in product and markets with a specific give attention to digital enterprise and appears ahead to maintain serving the region with important merchandise that certainly Improve Lives and likewise to show that an indigenous African firm can compete internationally and be a world-class organisation.
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