George Kent Ltd

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.^[3]

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.^[6]

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.^[2]

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]