Davis & Shirtliff, the main water and energy tools provider in East Africa is celebrating its seventy fifth Anniversary, a serious milestone in its corporate historical past. This is a most unusual achievement for any organisation, though particularly one that has the identical family shareholding and basically the same market focus since its founding. There are few corporations wherever with this declare and D&S is subsequently extraordinarily proud of the achievement with varied occasions being held in celebration.
The company was founded in 1946 by ex-soldiers Eddie Davis and Dick Shirtliff after leaving the military, 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 struggle focusing on boreholes, water supplies and the coffee trade. One notable early venture included the water supply for Karen Estates, the entire initial water supply infrastructure being put in by the corporate in addition to for many different of the residential estates that had been developed at the moment.
เกจ์วัดแรงดันลม &S grew with the country and within the mid-1950s the bottom was moved to new larger premises at the moment Dundori Rd location within the industrial space. An added exercise was swimming swimming pools, both residential and industrial and many were constructed which would possibly be still in use at present. Water Treatment was another diversification, most of the KenGen Tana River stations having D&S designed and constructed tools.
In 1970 partner 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 noticed sluggish but regular progress because the nation grappled with varied financial and political challenges, although there was a selected give consideration to building the pump business for which the corporate is so well known, notably by way of illustration of the Danish producer Grundfos.
1993 was a major yr for each Kenya and D&S because of financial liberalisation which was the catalyst for the company’s rapid growth since. It was additionally the 12 months that Pedrollo pumps from Italy have been first introduced, now the Group’s largest supplier. These two developments enabled a distribution technique to be developed as supply 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 soon adopted by establishing activities at the Coast although the merger with partner Butech. The pump enterprise grew vastly with Pedrollo and the now well-established Solar and Power Generation actions had been then added.
Since the Millennium development has tremendously accelerated, revenue increasing many occasions to KShs10 Billion at present. Major initiatives have included a complete redevelopment of the Dundori Rd website with growth into adjacent plots, the opening of subsidiaries and associate corporations in Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and DRC, appreciable development of the department community, introduction of the profitable Dayliff range of own-brand products and an enormous enlargement of the product range with Solar being particularly successful as the corporate developed its give consideration to renewable energy. More lately a serious growth has been establishment of an enormous 10,000m2 Distribution Centre at Tatu City that provides the resource for increased 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 dedicated workers working from over 70 places.
It is usually stated that success is transitory and generally unsustainable, although D&S has managed to take care of unbroken growth for an exceptional time period. This has been achieved by commercial focus, manageable ambition, steady physical 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 widely recognised company in the area and is happy with the contribution it has made, summarised by its slogan ‘Improving Lives’ which is demonstrated each by the necessary nature of its actions and likewise by an active programme of group 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 selection of ongoing initiatives and great plans for the longer term. Ably led by CEO David Gatende and supported by dedicated and committed executives and staff driving this development, the company is fortunate that the third era of Davis’s, Edward and Henry, have joined the business so continuity is assured. The Group continues to broaden in product and markets with a specific concentrate on digital business and appears ahead to maintain serving the area with important merchandise that definitely Improve Lives and likewise to demonstrate that an indigenous African firm can compete internationally and be a world-class organisation.
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