Not a headline designed purely to capture your attention – although I hope it has. No, these three subjects – admittedly random and disparate – recently found themselves conjoined in the unfathomable depths of my mind. A side-effect of the current heatwave perhaps?!
In my attempt to block out, if only for an hour or so, the challenges of running a business against the backcloth of this increasingly crazy world in which live, I had taken to my bathtub for a well-earned session of contemplative relaxation.
Now, I’ve never practised yoga, so I’d be lying if I said I was aiming for a transcendent state of nirvana. However, I had hoped some downtime in the bath would help to offload, temporarily, my regular gamut of thoughts: high inflation, rising business costs, war in Ukraine, climate change, and the post pandemic fallout. Yes it’s true, I really am a fun guy with whom to spend an evening in the pub!
This is where Archimedes comes in – not into the bathroom, but my thoughts. My particular Eureka-like moment was realising 2022 marks WH Kemp’s 55th anniversary. That’s 55 continuous years of manufacturing and supplying Cable Harnesses, Wiring Looms, Electrical Panels and Box Builds. Surely a mini landmark; one to be proud of; one that should be celebrated; one which I am embarrassed to admit had slipped my mind amongst all the political and economic mayhem. And yet here we are halfway through our 55th year.
Of course, you may have already investigated the far reaches of WH Kemp’s website; and I thank you if indeed that’s the case. Therefore, you may have discovered – on our ‘History’ page – the Company was founded in 1967. That’s the same year the UK applied for EEC membership (vetoed later that year by then French President, Charles de Gaulle) and the year in which The Beatles released Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was also the advent of the first handheld calculator – thank goodness!
But what has Boris Johnson got to do with this, I hear you asking? Well, not even my particular brand of a transcendent state of nirvana can repress the constant news about his recent political downfall and the ensuing Conservative Party leadership shenanigans. Which is why my bathtub thoughts quickly turned to counting back the number of Prime Ministers who have served since WH Kemp’s 1967 inception.
Our founder, Wilfred H Kemp, launched the Company in Bath (no pun intended) during Harold Wilson’s first term in office. Which makes Boris Johnson PM number 9. By the way, sticking with the political theme for a moment, Sir Graham Brady, who currently finds himself busy in his role as Chairman of the 1922 Committee orchestrating the leadership race, was born in 1967.
Anyway, the point is I do believe 55 years of continuous trading certainly defines longevity in our competitive sector, and certainly is something to shout about. So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those WH Kemp individuals, both past and present, who have contributed to more than half a century of continuous success of the Company. And of course, a huge thank you to our customers, of which a handful were with us in 1967 and have remained loyal to WH Kemp to this day.
You could say after 55 years and ‘With a Little Help from our Friends’, WH Kemp’s service is ‘Getting Better all the Time.’ In 9 years from now look out for our ‘When WH Kemp is 64’ posting!
