Davis & Shirtliff Celebrates its seventy fifth Anniversary

Davis & Shirtliff, the main water and power equipment provider in East Africa is celebrating its seventy fifth Anniversary, a serious milestone in its company historical past. This is a most unusual achievement for any organisation, though particularly one which has the identical family shareholding and basically the same market focus since its founding. There are few companies anywhere with this claim and D&S is due to this fact extremely happy 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 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 war specializing in boreholes, water supplies and the espresso trade. One notable early venture included the water supply for Karen Estates, the entire initial water provide infrastructure being put in by the corporate as nicely as for many other of the residential estates that were developed at that time.
D&S grew with the nation and in the mid-1950s the base was moved to new larger premises at the present Dundori Rd location in the industrial area. An added activity was swimming swimming pools, both residential and industrial and a lot of had been built that are nonetheless in use right now. Water Treatment was another diversification, lots of the KenGen Tana River stations having D&S designed and built equipment.
In 1970 companion Dick Shirtliff retired and after a interval with one other associate, Devji Shingadia, the Davis household, then represented by Eddie’s son Alec assumed control. The 70’s and 80’s saw gradual but regular progress because the nation grappled with numerous financial and political challenges, although there was a specific focus on constructing the pump enterprise for which the corporate is so well-known, notably through representation of the Danish producer Grundfos.
1993 was a significant yr for each Kenya and D&S due to economic liberalisation which was the catalyst for the company’s fast development since. It was additionally the year 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 provide constraints were removed and the department network was then established, initially with Kenya branches being opened in Westlands, Eldoret and Kisumu and subsidiaries in Uganda and Tanzania soon followed by establishing actions on the Coast though the merger with companion Butech. The pump enterprise grew massively with Pedrollo and the now well-established Solar and Power Generation actions had been then added.
Since the Millennium development has greatly accelerated, revenue increasing many instances to KShs10 Billion right now. Major initiatives have included a whole redevelopment of the Dundori Rd site with expansion into adjoining plots, the opening of subsidiaries and associate firms in Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and DRC, appreciable progress of the branch community, introduction of the successful Dayliff vary of own-brand products and an enormous enlargement of the product range with Solar being especially profitable as the company developed its focus on renewable power. More lately a significant growth has been institution of a large 10,000m2 Distribution Centre at Tatu City that provides the resource for elevated stockholding and has remodeled distribution efficiency throughout the area, this facility being completed in 2020. Staffing has additionally grown correspondingly, the Group now employing over 1000 dedicated staff operating from over 70 places.
It is usually stated that success is transitory and generally unsustainable, though D&S has managed to hold up unbroken growth for an exceptional time frame. This 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 translates to embracing continuous change. เกจวัดแรงดันsumo &S is now a extensively recognised company 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 likewise by an energetic programme of group help that focuses on providing water to underprivileged communities, many 1000’s of individuals having benefited.
Of course, the 75-year milestone is only a second in a steady journey and the Group continues to grow with a number of ongoing initiatives and great plans for the long run. Ably led by CEO David Gatende and supported by devoted and dedicated executives and workers driving this growth, the corporate is fortunate that the third generation of Davis’s, Edward and Henry, have joined the enterprise so continuity is assured. The Group continues to increase in product and markets with a particular concentrate on digital business and looks ahead to maintain serving the area with essential products that definitely Improve Lives and likewise to demonstrate that an indigenous African company can compete internationally and be a world-class organisation.
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