| George Kent Ltd | |
| Successor: | Brown Boveri Kent in 1974 |
| Location City: | London |
| Location Country: | United Kingdom |
| Locations: | Luton, St Neots |
| Key People: | Walter George Kent |
| Industry: | Instrumentation, Military, Domestic appliances |
| Products: | Artillery fuses, linear actuators, flow meters, ice boxes, clear view screens |
Founded in 1838,[1] George Kent Ltd was initially a manufacturer of household gadgets, then a manufacturer of munitions during World War One, and became the largest British manufacturer of instruments for industrial control systems,[2] prior to its acquisition by Brown Boveri in 1974.
The company was founded in 1838.
The company was incorporated as a limited company in 1907,[1] and was managed by the founder's son Walter George Kent.
During World War One, Kents had a factory in Luton with over 3,000 workers, mostly munitionettes, in this case producing fuses for artillery shells.[3] They were producing 140,000 shell fuses a week.[4] After the war, this grew to 5,000 workers.
George Kent grew to have significant reach worldwide, including establishing a subsidiary in Malaysia in 1936.[5] Currently, as an independent organisation, the Malaysian company George Kent provide engineering and metering solutions in South-East Asia,[6] with a diverse set of activities including the integration of railways and the manufacture of water meters.
In 1968, George Kent Ltd acquired Fielden Electronics[7] and Cambridge Instrument Company[8] [9] [10] forming the George Kent Group. This was the UK's largest industrial instrument manufacturer. Tony Benn as Minister of Technology answered questions about the Cambridge Instruments takeover in Parliament.[11]
Fielden Electronics of Wythenshawe, Manchester produced a data recorder known as the Servograph[12] [13] and a capacitance-sensing proximity meter[14] alongside a variety of scientific instruments and process control devices.[15] These included the bikini[16] temperature controller, a temperature recorder,[17] and the E296[18] level controller.[19]
An acquisition in 1974 of George Kent Group by Swiss instrument company Brown Boveri caused a rename to Brown Boveri Kent. At the same time, the company Scientific and Medical Instruments was spun-out which eventually became Cambridge Instrument Company,[20] resurrecting that brand. Brown Boveri eventually merged with ASEA and is today the industrial giant ABB. Kent is maintained as a brand within ABB.
Kent's breakthrough product was a knife sharpener, first available around 1850.[21] [22] Later products included an ice cabinet, being a well-insulated damp-proof box suitable for storing meat and dairy products; a miniaturised one appeared in Queen Mary's Dolls' House.[23]
Early Kent industrial products include water flow meters.[24] The company motto was "From drops to rivers".[25]
Power cylinders were first manufactured in the 1950s in Luton.[26] These are a type of linear actuator featuring a control loop where the position of the actuator is governed by some input pressure signal. Power cylinders continue to be manufactured, alongside similar linear actuators featuring digital control technology.[27]
Kent's produced the clear view screen, a spinning transparent panel that provided visibility in wet weather. Kent also produced avionic equipment, including aircraft fuel gauges and fuel flow meters.[28]