Davis & Shirtliff, the main water and vitality equipment supplier in East Africa is celebrating its 75th Anniversary, a serious milestone in its company history. This is a most uncommon achievement for any organisation, although particularly one that has the same household shareholding and basically the same market focus since its founding. There are few firms anywhere with this claim and D&S is subsequently extraordinarily happy with the achievement with numerous 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 primarily based at Westlands, in Nairobi, their neighbour being Westlands Motors that rose to prominence with the Toyota franchise.
It grew quickly as the country recovered after the war focusing on boreholes, water provides and the coffee industry. One notable early venture included the water supply for Karen Estates, the whole initial water provide infrastructure being installed by the corporate in addition to for many other of the residential estates that had been developed at that time.
D&S grew with the country and in the mid-1950s the base was moved to new larger premises at the present Dundori Rd location in the industrial space. An added exercise was swimming swimming pools, both residential and commercial and many have been built that are still in use at present. Water Treatment was one other diversification, lots of the KenGen Tana River stations having D&S designed and constructed gear.
In 1970 companion Dick Shirtliff retired and after a period with one other companion, Devji Shingadia, the Davis household, then represented by Eddie’s son Alec assumed control. The 70’s and 80’s saw slow however regular growth because the country grappled with various economic and political challenges, although there was a particular give consideration to building the pump business for which the corporate is so well-known, notably via representation of the Danish producer Grundfos.
1993 was a major year for each Kenya and D&S because of financial liberalisation which was the catalyst for the company’s rapid progress since. It was also the 12 months that Pedrollo pumps from Italy had been first launched, now the Group’s largest provider. These two developments enabled a distribution technique to be developed as provide constraints were removed and the department community was then established, initially with Kenya branches being opened in Westlands, Eldoret and Kisumu and subsidiaries in Uganda and Tanzania soon followed by establishing activities on the Coast though the merger with associate Butech. The pump enterprise grew vastly with Pedrollo and the now well-established Solar and Power Generation activities have been then added.
Since the Millennium growth has significantly accelerated, income rising many times to KShs10 Billion at present. Major initiatives have included an entire redevelopment of the Dundori Rd web site with expansion into adjacent plots, the opening of subsidiaries and affiliate companies in Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and DRC, appreciable development of the branch community, introduction of the profitable Dayliff range of own-brand merchandise and an enormous expansion of the product range with Solar being particularly successful as the corporate developed its focus on renewable energy. More recently a serious growth has been establishment of an enormous 10,000m2 Distribution Centre at Tatu City that provides the resource for elevated stockholding and has remodeled distribution effectivity throughout the region, this facility being completed in 2020. Staffing has additionally grown correspondingly, the Group now using over a thousand dedicated workers working from over 70 places.
It is often said that success is transitory and generally unsustainable, although D&S has managed to maintain unbroken progress for an distinctive period of time. เกจวัดแรงดันเชื้อเพลิง has been achieved by industrial focus, manageable ambition, continuous physical and organisational funding and, importantly, living the values established by the founders of Quality, Integrity and ‘Altiora Peto’, which interprets to embracing steady change. D&S is now a widely recognised company within the region and is happy with 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 energetic programme of group support that focuses on offering water to underprivileged communities, many thousands of individuals having benefited.
Of course, the 75-year milestone is just a second in a continuous journey and the Group continues to develop with a quantity of ongoing initiatives and great plans for the long run. Ably led by CEO David Gatende and supported by dedicated and dedicated executives and employees driving this growth, the corporate is lucky that the third era of Davis’s, Edward and Henry, have joined the enterprise so continuity is assured. The Group continues to broaden in product and markets with a particular give consideration to digital enterprise and looks ahead to maintain serving the area with important products that definitely Improve Lives and also to reveal that an indigenous African firm can compete internationally and be a world-class organisation.
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