High note for UK’s sole piano manufacturer

The manufacturing arm of Yorkshire Pianos, Cavendish Pianos – the UK’s only piano maker – has been celebrating a five year, £1.75m contract to supply 500 pianos to a Chinese wholesaler.

 

The business, backed by the owners of the Bolton Abbey Estate, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, who are the company’s patrons, was launched by Yorkshire businessmen Adam Cox and Charlie McEwan.

 

Mr Cox, director of the well-established retailer Yorkshire Pianos, said: “We visited Shanghai International Music Fair last year and made initial contact with Shanghai Musical Instruments. We met again at Frankfurt Music Fair, facilitated by the Music Industries Association, and struck the deal to supply them with 100 pianos a year for the next five years.

“While at Shanghai Music Fair we were intrigued to see several Chinese manufacturers have acquired English piano names and claim an ‘English Heritage’, complete with pictures of The Queen, double-decker buses and full-size models of red telephone boxes at their trade stands. Pianos are seen as quintessentially British and the rise of a monied upper class in China means there is a ready market for high-quality imported goods which is how we came to secure the order.”

 

Mr Cox set up the manufacturing business at Bolton Abbey in 2011 after the British piano range Kemble, which he had sold for years, ended its UK production, transferring to the Far East, five years ago.

 

“We were the top seller of Kemble in the UK. When it was bought by Yamaha, the message was that nothing would change. However, within months they had closed the entire UK arm of Kemble, they no longer even use any storage space in the UK, preferring to shift that over to Holland,” says Cox.

 

“The main motivation for me was to keep something going in the UK. I thought, “Right, it’s now or never”. The danger was that if left too long all the skills of piano making would be lost. The UK is no stranger to the craft, but if you miss one generation, all that skill and heritage would be lost forever.”

 

He said: “Traditional skills do still exist in England such as piano string making, felt making for hammers, action building and cabinet making, and bringing them together it was possible to create a piano in this country.

 

“Sadly the craft had waned and eventually disappeared and we felt it was our job to resurrect it.”

 

Mr Cox said that orders started flowing in from throughout the UK as more people embraced a return to the “characterful sound” of a European Piano.

 

Now the company is attracting interest from countries including Australia, which Cox says is a long-term importer of pianos, and the US.

 

International trade support specialists Chamber International is working with Yorkshire Pianos, which has turnover of £500,000, to provide ongoing support.