History of Harvey Softeners (Formerly Kinetico LTD) History of Harvey Softeners (Formerly Kinetico LTD)
Hello, I’m Harvey
28 years ago Mrs Ann Bowden purchased a Permutit Mayfly water softener. Not in itself an outstanding event in the interest of human kind, but very significant for the birth of Harvey Softeners Ltd.
Ann’s husband, a plumber (that’s me) was eventually persuaded after some grumbling to install the water softener, and was subsequently amazed at the effect of softened water in the house. The difference was astonishing.
A couple of years later in 1977, Permutit were having trouble finding sufficient installers and they contracted Harvey – who was principally involved in central heating installations – to install the odd water softener. Because he was good at plumbing and could also talk to customers, they then started to send him out on all the difficult jobs where the customers could not make up their mind. By the autumn of 1977 Harvey decided that there was an opportunity for him to sell and install water softeners as opposed to central heating.
Harvey Softeners Ltd was born on 1st January 1978 and went from failure to disaster to near bankruptcy all within six months. Optimism always outsmarts naivety but reality eventually sets in. Harvey could plumb but he could not sell, Harvey could advertise but he could not do it successfully. In August of 1978 his wife gave birth to their first son, Bruno, and Harvey informed her at the same time that the overdraft was £9,800 and would she like him to give up water softeners and go back to plumbing. She supported her man, as women do, and Harvey struggled on, eventually achieving success with his little leaflet ‘The Tale of Two Terrors”.
Modern kitchen worktops were 36 inches (91cm) tall and the Permutit water softener suitable for a family was, at that time, 44 inches (112cm) tall. So Harvey spent most of his time persuading customers that it would be ok to cut a hole through their kitchen worktop so that the softener could stick through the top. Finally he decided that it might be better if there was a water softener that fitted under the worktop but there was nothing available. He then came up with the idea of manufacturing a little twin cylinder water softener so that instead of having one large cylinder sticking through the worktop you could have two little alternating cylinders sitting underneath the kitchen sink.
In 1979 he went off to America to source the components to make the valve he envisioned, but discovered that a company called Kinetico had beaten him to it. Negotiations proceeded and Kinetico manufactured a customised water softener for Harvey (the Mini Kinetic); this was launched in the UK on 1st September 1981. It was an immediate and unqualified success such that Harvey Softeners sales overtook those of Permutit in 1983 and by 1985 Permutit was sold and has virtually disappeared.
Meanwhile, Harvey Softeners went from strength to strength, selling not only the Kinetico brand of softeners but also the Bruno, Sofstream and Permo brands. The result of all this activity was that the water softener business in England boomed. By 1988 Harvey Softeners Ltd was bigger than Harvey’s capacity to manage a family of three boys and a business with 37 different products to sell. So he downsized the business, selling off all the other brands expect Kinetico, and changed the name from Harvey Softeners Ltd to Kinetico Ltd to concentrate on the one superior product.
An exciting story so far? It gets better.
Way back in 1977 when Harvey got started, a friend of his suggested that instead of carrying 25 kg sacks of salt you could have a compressed brick of salt which would take up much less space and be much easier to handle. This was easier said that done and various attempt over the years were made and in 1989 Harvey approached Akzo Nobel, which is Europe’s largest chemical company and persuaded them to make salt bricks for Harvey to put in his water softeners. It took a few years – and millions of euros – to get up and running, but eventually in 1994 Harvey’s Block Salt was in production. This innovative block salt softener was smaller, neater, tidier and much more convenient for consumers and this rekindled the market and Harvey’s enthusiasm. By the late 90’s Kinetico Ltd, as we were then called, was once again leading the market forward but there were clouds on the horizon.
The European Union was trying to harmonise standards throughout the EU countries and Germany had an unusual standard for water softeners. It was imperative that the standard be stopped from becoming harmonised until and unless it incorporated all the softeners that were sold throughout Europe, including the non-electric block salt softener. So, like many other entrepreneurs in various industries, Harvey had to spend 80% of his working life fighting the bureaucracy of Brussels to ensure that his industry was protected from anticompetitive trade barrier standards. Fortunately for the industry he, together with other hardworking colleagues from many countries, is well on the way to achieving that happy goal. [? NOW ACHIEVED]
Back at the sharp end of the business, things were moving on. The original Kinetico valve was designed for American plumbing systems and despite the modifications that Harvey had instigated over the years to make it function successfully in England it was getting old. Now being sufficiently strong both financially and technically, and desiring to produce a superior machine specifically for the European customer, it was decided to design and manufacture our own units in England. This started in the early 90’s with the development of a single cylinder electric softener. This was successful and given the confidence that this brought, the design of a twin cylinder non-electric was undertaken. The whole process took over six years, but at the end of it we were able to launch Harvey’s Block Salt Softener on the 11th May 2001. At the same time the company changed its name back to Harvey Softeners Ltd and Kinetico UK Ltd entered the market with a carbon copy of the previous Kinetico block salt softener cabinet, the original being designed and made by Harvey. Exciting times!
The transition has been an unqualified success. This success has allowed us to recently open (September 06) a custom built manufacturing and Head Office facility in Woking, which we believe is the largest water softener factory in the EU and with our growth in to Europe, with our sister company Halutec, we believe that the future is bright