Davis & Shirtliff Celebrates its 75th Anniversary

Davis & Shirtliff, the leading water and energy gear supplier in East Africa is celebrating its 75th Anniversary, a significant milestone in its corporate history. This is a most uncommon 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 corporations wherever with this declare and D&S is due to this fact extraordinarily pleased with the achievement with varied events being held in celebration.
The company was founded in 1946 by ex-soldiers Eddie Davis and Dick Shirtliff after leaving the military, initially being based mostly at Westlands, in Nairobi, their neighbour being Westlands Motors that rose to prominence with the Toyota franchise.
It grew quickly as the nation recovered after the struggle specializing in boreholes, water supplies and the espresso trade. One notable early venture included the water provide for Karen Estates, the whole initial 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 nation and in the mid-1950s the bottom was moved to new bigger premises at the moment Dundori Rd location in the industrial area. An added exercise was swimming pools, both residential and business and lots of have been constructed which are nonetheless in use at present. Water Treatment was one other diversification, lots of the KenGen Tana River stations having D&S designed and constructed equipment.
In 1970 partner Dick Shirtliff retired and after a interval with another partner, Devji Shingadia, the Davis household, then represented by Eddie’s son Alec assumed control. The 70’s and 80’s saw slow but regular progress because the nation grappled with various economic and political challenges, although there was a specific focus on constructing the pump business for which the company is so well-known, notably via illustration of the Danish producer Grundfos.
1993 was a big yr for each Kenya and D&S due to economic liberalisation which was the catalyst for the company’s rapid development since. It was additionally the yr that Pedrollo pumps from Italy were first introduced, now the Group’s largest provider. These two developments enabled a distribution technique to be developed as provide constraints have been 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 quickly followed by establishing actions at the Coast though the merger with companion Butech. The pump business grew hugely with Pedrollo and the now well-established Solar and Power Generation actions were then added.
Since the Millennium progress has greatly accelerated, revenue growing many occasions to KShs10 Billion right now. Major initiatives have included an entire redevelopment of the Dundori Rd website with enlargement into adjoining plots, the opening of subsidiaries and associate firms in Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and DRC, appreciable development of the branch network, introduction of the successful Dayliff vary of own-brand products and a huge expansion of the product range with Solar being especially successful as the company developed its focus on renewable power. More recently a serious development has been establishment of a large 10,000m2 Distribution Centre at Tatu City that provides the useful resource for elevated stockholding and has reworked distribution efficiency all through the area, this facility being completed in 2020. Staffing has also grown correspondingly, the Group now using over 1000 committed workers working from over 70 places.
เกจวัดน้ำยาแอร์refco is usually mentioned that success is transitory and sometimes unsustainable, although D&S has managed to take care of unbroken development for an distinctive time frame. This has been achieved by commercial focus, manageable ambition, steady bodily and organisational investment and, importantly, residing the values established by the founders of Quality, Integrity and ‘Altiora Peto’, which translates to embracing continuous change. D&S is now a broadly recognised firm within the region and is proud of the contribution it has made, summarised by its slogan ‘Improving Lives’ which is demonstrated each by the essential nature of its actions and also by an lively programme of neighborhood help that focuses on offering water to underprivileged communities, many hundreds of individuals having benefited.
Of course, the 75-year milestone is only a second in a steady journey and the Group continues to develop with a variety of ongoing initiatives and nice plans for the lengthy run. Ably led by CEO David Gatende and supported by devoted and committed executives and employees driving this growth, the corporate is lucky that the third technology of Davis’s, Edward and Henry, have joined the business so continuity is assured. The Group continues to expand in product and markets with a specific give attention to digital business and looks forward to maintain serving the region with important merchandise that definitely Improve Lives and also to demonstrate that an indigenous African firm can compete internationally and be a world-class organisation.
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