Britain's last piano maker set to close

Kemble

In two years, Bletchley-based piano maker Kemble and Company should be celebrating its centenary. Instead, in two weeks, the last piano-maker in Britain will close. Reporter JESSICA CUNNIFFE met the managing director before operations move to Asia.

AT the beginning of the 20th century there were hundreds of piano makers in Britain.

When Brian Kemble started at the family firm 35 years ago, there were fewer than ten.

Next month there will be none.

Yet there are more people playing piano today than ever before.

"Up until last year our sales were up month on month - we were asking ourselves 'what are we doing right'," said the 57-year-old managing director.

For him, the demise of the British piano-making industry is not black and white.

"The reason for what's happening is global. It's very complicated. The piano market is changing. You've either got the lower end or the higher end and we're right in the middle. Other places have factories four times our size."

This is not only the last piano-maker in the country, but its 93 skilled staff ensure it is the most advanced plant in Europe.

The penultimate British firm to close was the Woodchester Piano Company, which folded around ten years ago.

But Kemble has clung on after it was rescued by music giant Yamaha in 1986.

Since then they have made 120,000 pianos - but they will make no more. From November, operations will move to Japan, China and Indonesia.

However, Kemble's characteristic 'warm, mellow sound' will not be silenced, and Yamaha will continue producing the make - although it will no longer bear the 'Made in England' mark proudly carved on their current stock.

Brian said: "It's sad but Yamaha has given us 23 years of doing what we love. It's not that we were facing a crisis. But for the long-term future of piano making you've got to go big. As a company we are in a strong position, but we would rather quit when we're ahead.

"Without getting too political, there's not been sufficient emphasis on manufacturing in the UK."

Kemble and Co was founded in London in 1911 by Brian's grandfather, Michael. In 1968 his father Robert brought it to Bletchley because amplifier-makers Marshall was here.

In its heyday there were 150 staff, but the most prolific year was 1997 when 7,000 pianos were made.

But in the factory today there remains a symphony of drills, crescendo of hammering and drone of machinery.

Amid the cacophony there is one aim: to make beautiful instruments that make a beautiful sound.

Within one huge room the skilled work ranges from the heavy duty to the intricate.



At one end cabinet makers are crafting huge pieces of timber, making the cases for instruments that will eventually weigh 38 stone.

At the other end, tuners stand pulling at strings, where a fraction's difference in tautness can mean the difference between harmony and discord.

It takes three weeks and the assembly of 40,000 pieces for to go from wood-carving to ivory-tinkling.

"It goes up and down, up and down and eventually turns into a complete piano," says Brian, casting his eye over the polishers, stringers, tuners, action finishers and mill machinists.

"I love manufacturing. Here you're creating something that's a product that gives pleasure to a lot of people."

Machines also play their part - literally, in the case of the testing machine, which, like a ghost pianist, plays all the keys hundreds of times to bed them in.

Brian has seen the fashion change over the years, with the current best-seller, the Conservatoire, retailing at £7,000.

Now, around 80 per cent of their models have a shiny, black finish and they are all uprights.

But throughout his time, the key to their success has been the quality of the pianos.

"No two pianos are the same, that's the beauty of it - and that's the last one," he said, pointing at the sounding board which will evolve into a 'Chopin' model - the factory's swan song.

Although they will be closing the lid on manufacturing and musical history, he is assured the brand will live on through the thousands of Kembles that will be played for years to come.

After all, Brian added: "Our pianos are definitely built to last."