Men Who Make Transport
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Georg enning
I “ WENT down to the office at half past eight as usual,
and there waiting for me was Mr. George! " Mr.
George is, of course, George Kenning, chairman and joint managing director of the Kenning Motor Group, and the words could have been spoken by the manager" of any one of Kenning's 150 or more depots spread over the country from Glasgow in the north, to Plymouth in the south. For George Kenning thinks nothing of setting off from his Derbyshire home at the crack of dawn to see how things are going with the various outposts of the company.
This quiet-spoken man in his early forties did not strike me as one who would stand much nonsense from anybody. I would hate to be the employee who did not turn up on time the morning Mr. George arrived out of the blue. But this is far from saying he is a tyrannical hiring and firing boss: discreet inquiries of mine round and about confirmed the view I arrived at when I visited the company's. fine new premises at Chesterfield—that Kennings are very good employers indeed.
I can say with conviction that George Kenning is no personal publicity seeker. I seem to have heard as much, if not more, from him about his late father, Sir George Kenning, J.P., and his brother David, a joint managing director of the company, as about himself. "We are a team," he repeated. And I left Chesterfield with the very strong impression that the team is efficient and—doubtless, cause and effect—happy.
George Kenning's grandfather founded the business long before motor cars were thought of That was in the Derbyshire village of Clay Cross in 1878. It was a hardware business, which included the sale of kerosene, candles and other oil products at the beginning, but went into the petroleum trade at the turn of the century. George
Kenning told me that the earliest distributorship agreement in his company's possession is dated 1903 and was with the Consolidated Petroleum Company, predecessor of Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd. The connection remains unbroken.
Like father, and, indeed, grandfather, like son or (as George Kenning wbuld insist) like sons. The company has always gone out for new business, not fighting shy of any enterprise provided that it shows promise of profit. George Kenning leaned back in his chair and reminisced. " Our Miss Kay will give you all the information on the firm," he had said. None the less, it clearly was a matter of pleasure to him to relate some of the outstanding commercial exploits of his forebears—as, for instance, the sale of 150 Morris two-seaters to the Shell Petroleum Co., just after the first war (Morris' first fleet sale), and the successful incursion into the tyre field in 1936. Today G.K. Tyre Services provide a comprehensive tyre service through some 40 specialized depots.
Though it is as servicing depots and car agents that 1 remember Kenning's branches in pre-War days (were they not the first, at any rate in the Midlands, to supply a seven-minute car wash?) George emphasized that since the war the company has expanded its departments concerned with the major overhaul of road tank vehicles. There are four depots now and a labour force of 260. Building, hiring and selling road tank vehicles also comes within the orbit of these depots.
Few people in the North and Midlands Of England are in a better position to make a judgment than he, for over the past few years his company has greatly increased its capacity for the sale and service of conventional commercial vehicles. Depots have become specialized, staff has been increased and now the Kenning Group enjoys full facilities for special coachwork building, painting, overhauls and so on.
Two new examples of enterprise of which he is specially proud are at the Sheffield Wholesale Market—reputed to be the largest in the world and at Strensham on the Ross Spur. At the market a Kenning's depot will provide complete servicing facilities for vehicles and at Strensham the company is even launching out into catering. Following the general lines of Forte's rest centres on the Ml, Kennings will set up a garage, restaurant, snack bar and so on. This is but the latest example of the restless search for new outlets for the firm's energies. George Kenning—or should say, the Kenning brothers?—are a tough combination, ever on the alert to see that nobody gets past them. Today it is difficult to think Of any aspect of the motor business. except of course, the actual manufacture of engines and chassis, which they do not in some way touch.
Marked Contrast
Until recently the company's administrative staff was scattered widely. Now they have been brought together under one broad roof at the new Chesterfield headquarters. These premises, with the modern decor (the boardroom and George Kenning's private office made me think of those advertisements for extremely soigné furniture one sees in those glossy pages of magazines) are in marked contrast to the somewhat drab town of Chesterfield. One wonders what that first Kenning—Frank, who died at 52 in 1905—would have said about it could he have driven up from the first Clay Cross premises. He would, I think, have wholeheartedly approved. He, like his son and grandsons, delighted in moving swiftly with the times.
What is George like? I believe he and his brother's personalities emerge through the firm. Go-getter—certainly. But that must not be confused with a picture of a rough, broad-spoken, shirt-sleeved North country self-made man who reckons nowt to anything farther south than Derby. George was educated at Mill Hill and took an M.A. degree. There's nothing rough about him. He sits at his desk. immaculately tailored, in a room of ultra-modern design. equipped with the latest in heating systems. All round him are pictures of his family and relatives, for I judge him to be a great family man. His pastime is boats: he is often to be seen on the Hamble. Dare 1 say that he is never happy
away from transport? H.C.