The History of Kemble
Kemble was, for a century, one of the great names in British piano making, and its story ends as the last piano manufacturer in Britain.
From 1911 to a British institution
Michael Kemble founded the firm in London in 1911. Over the following decades Kemble grew into Britain’s largest piano manufacturer, eventually based at a large factory in Milton Keynes, turning out honest, well-made pianos for homes and schools across the country.
The Yamaha years
In 1986 Kemble began a partnership with Yamaha, and in 1988 Yamaha took a controlling stake. From then on, Kembles were built with Yamaha soundboards and action technology, married to British cabinet styling, and the factory also built Yamaha-branded pianos for the European market. It was a genuine meeting of British craft and Japanese engineering.
The end of British piano making
In 2009 Yamaha moved production to Indonesia, and the Milton Keynes factory closed. With it went the last piano manufacturer in Britain. The pianos live on, though, and a good used Kemble remains a fine, sensible buy.