First New British Piano For 78 Years Launched

The British piano-making industry, which has dwindled to a handful of craftsman producing individual commissions, is set to welcome its first newcomer for 78 years.

Cavendish pianos is based in a set of former cowsheds in the Yorkshire Dales and will this weekend send a number of piano salesmen to the Frankfurt music fair, the Musikmesse, to launch its first range of uprights and grands.

Named after the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire who own the premises they are based at in Bolton Abbey, the pianos will be the first British-made instruments since Yamaha moved production of its Kemble pianos to the far east in 2009.

"That ended 99 years of Kembles being made in Britain, and it made me think," says Adam Cox, who has sold pianos in Yorkshire for over two decades. "It opened up a gap in the market for people who want an affordable piano but take an interest in its origins and like the fact that it's made in Britain – or in our case, made in Yorkshire."

The new firm has been made viable by using a regional grapevine of specialised industries that have weathered the recession with high quality limited production and modest transport costs. Each piano is made up of as many as 20,000 parts, which involves suppliers include hardwood sawmills, feltmakers and a hand-spinner of piano strings, all within easy reach of the ex-cowsheds.

"China and the far east have many advantages but we can beat them," says Cox, whose favourite statistic is a reminder of the glory days of British piano sales. During the consumer boom of the late 19th century, more people were employed making pianos in London than in any other manufacturing business.

"There were 360 firms, so we're obviously not talking about that scale of things," he says. "But we've seen a growing interest in pianos through the shop. Keyboards and the like had a novelty but people are realising their limitations compared with a real piano."

The company’s launch in Germany has been arranged with use of a government grant due to the pianos export potential.

(H)