Meeting Dan Kemp is like meeting living history. Now in his 79th year, Mr Kemp is frank about the fact that but for his father’s foresight he would not be here at all.

For Mr Kemp is Jewish – a heritage of which he is deeply proud. He was born in Czechoslovakia and, at the age of 16, in May 1938 – about two months after Austria was occupied by the Germans – his father Ludwig saw the danger and sent him to England. A year later Czechoslovakia was also occupied – but luckily Mr Kemp’s parents and his brother were able to flee. Many people he knew were not so fortunate, and that legacy haunts him still today.

The experience affected his life, albeit indirectly. ‘Human cruelty is so awful. I was terribly shocked after the war and just wanted to work and help my father to establish ourselves. It was easier to be occupied.’

And occupied he has been, becoming chairman of the largest privately owned hardwood importer in the UK. But Mr Kemp does not come equipped with the usual trappings of a company chief and has difficulty understanding those who do. He believes in ploughing profit back into the company and in leading a simple life with the family coming firmly first.

Mr Kemp’s father was involved in barter business before the war, trading in timber and metal from which the company name, Timbmet, comes.

‘He learnt his trade from his uncles in Slovakia, dealing mainly in iron and steel for the building trade. He kept his nephews going in the timber trade in the provinces and by the early 30s had a very big business with timber to Belgium, Holland and England and steel bars and sheets back to Czechoslovakia.

Beginnings

‘When my father came to England he was permitted to enter the country on the basis that he would not be allowed to do any work, paid or unpaid, but fortunately he had some resources here. Then, with war breaking out, he was able to start a business because the country needed everyone.’

Timbmet was established in 1942 and a home-grown timber market was developed under the direction of the Board of Trade Timber Control.

Mr Kemp said: ‘In those days you had to have a licence to buy and sell. After the war my father was allowed to continue trading and permitted to travel abroad to source timber.’

In 1952 Timbmet applied to join the Timber Trade Federation. ‘There was a probationary period of 12 months and we had to bring in £250,000 worth of hardwood during the year. During that period agents were allowed to trade with us, so we bought from the Far East and Africa – but it was a difficult business because of the Korean war.’

In 1956 Mr Kemp senior bought 100 acres at Chawley Works, Cumnor Hill, Oxfordshire for £20,000, using about one quarter of the area for the business. ‘In those days we air dried a large quantity of timber, but we don’t need that sort of space any more.

‘We grew the business year by year, importing more hardwoods. Then, in 1959, my father died and I was left in charge.’

As timber drying became increasingly important, more storage sheds were erected to cover stock kilned by contractors. During this period, Mr Kemp was ably assisted by long-time colleague Leslie Boustead, a name many in the trade remember fondly.

Kilning capacity

The first office block and storage shed were built in 1963 and, around 10 years later, ground work started for the first 12 kilns.

Mr Kemp said: ‘Our kilning capacity is about 500m³ and our total storage capacity on this site is 25,000m².

‘In 1980 we built 12 kilns on a 4.5 acre site we bought at Bicester with a 900m³ capacity – and when we opened that the whole trade was envious. We added three more there in 1989 with a capacity of 250m³.

‘We grew organically until 1986 when we purchased the old established business of Fletcher Bolton in Rochdale. We modernised the machining plant and today we are selling about 20% of our products machined with further added value.

&#8220The fact that people have stayed with us means a lot to me – much more than £100,000 a year profit”

Dan Kemp

‘We also developed the Timbmet Doors business which is now an important part of the business with some prestige projects.

‘Then, in 1993 we bought the timber yards, John Woyka & Co Ltd and, in 1998, importer M & N Norman – both in Glasgow – to consolidate our position and gain market share.

‘One of the gains was a small melamine flooring business and we built that up to quite a sizeable business within a year. We now have a depot, Floorboards Ltd, at Tipton which offers a melamine veneered and solid hardwood flooring.’

As a confirmed hardwood man, Mr Kemp is faintly amused to find himself involved with melamine. ‘I never thought I would be dealing in it, but in Floorboards we are now about 60% melamine and 40% solid and engineered hardwood flooring and still trying to grow the hardwood side.’

Timbmet is also stocking an increasing range of sheet materials, offering a ‘one stop’ service but, as Mr Kemp states firmly: ‘Our core business and our future is in hardwoods. That has caused us problems in the past – in 1992 and 1994 we were targeted by environmentalists.

‘All that is in the past and we are now very careful about where we buy and we vet our suppliers. We look for people who are conscious about the environment and trying to do their best, and do not buy from illegal sources.’

Mr Kemp has a British passport and is almost as proud of that as of his Jewish ancestry. He is a strong campaigner for this country, saying: ‘I always wanted to buy British and, in the past, I would never allow foreign cars as company cars. I always felt we should buy our vehicles from Cowley and nowhere else – but even local loyalties have gone now.’

He is excited by the new £3m Canadian computer system being installed at Cumnor – the first of its type in the UK. ‘This system will make us the most advanced in Europe.’

At the same time, Timbmet will always rely on people’s knowledge, skills and expertise, not on a computer system, regarding experience and trade knowledge as vital.

‘In this business you need to be sharp and have the right answers at the right time. Contacts are important – you travel around and it is almost a pilgrimage. You get to know people and establish relationships that last for years.’

To Mr Kemp, doing what he does well is as important as profit. ‘Our motto is price, service and quality and I would never sacrifice quality for price. What I can do instead is ask whether a customer is using the right species for the right application.

‘The fact that people have stayed with us means a lot to me – much more than £100,000 a year profit.’

If he were 20 years younger, Mr Kemp says he would be looking to eastern Europe for timber sources. ‘We have been looking too far west and need to go to where I originally came from for some new supplies. I would put money into Poland, Slovakia, the former Yugoslavia – places like that. There are large resources but people have not got the right machinery or modern expertise.’

He is also convinced that the timber industry’s future lies in engineered products, although he advises: ‘The trade has got to strengthen its technical knowledge and expertise to cope with them.’

Education is another favourite topic for Mr Kemp and he believes the trade needs to shrug off its ‘woodentop’ image and invest in more training and quality people at all levels.

Positive outlook

Mr Kemp is a strong supporter of TRADA and regrets not being able to take up an invitation to be its chairman some years ago. ‘I didn’t have the staff around me then, so it just wasn’t possible. It is wonderful that TRADA has been able to stand on its own feet. Its work can help all of us.’

Looking to the future, Mr Kemp is as confident as ever that Timbmet will remain a leading player in hardwoods.

‘We have a strong management team and I am thankful I can still play a full role in moving the business forward.’