Instrument maker looks to sound right notes
TWO Yorkshire businessmen are behind the launch of what they claim is the only piano manufacturer in existence in the UK.
Adam Cox and Charlie McEwan, both of Otley, are behind Cavendish Pianos, which is being backed by the owners of the Bolton Abbey Estate, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, who are the company’s patrons.
Mr Cox, director of well-established retailer Yorkshire Pianos at Bolton Abbey, was inspired to start the venture after the British piano range Kemble, which he had sold for years, ended its UK production, transferring to the Far East, in 2009.
Yorkshire Pianos’s instruments range from small uprights to large grands and are being manufactured at the pair’s Harrogate Road base.
Mr Cox said: “For a lot of people looking at buying a piano, their main question is: ‘Where was it made?’.
“We think there must be lots of others who, like us, would like to know more about the production of their instrument and what materials were used. We’ve had a piano shop going on for 20 years and I’ve always wanted to make pianos, so now we’ve seen there’s a gap in the market we’re going for it.
“There seems to be a feeling that, as a country, we can again produce great British goods and we believe there is a growing demand for them.”
Cavendish Pianos is aiming to use experts from Yorkshire to manufacture all its pianos.
Mr McEwan added: “We are a tiny operation compared to the big boys and we’re doing a very small production run, but that means we can do things the Far Eastern manufacturers can’t.”
