The Board of Carver Group. From left to right Chris Carver, David Carver, Aidan Killeen, Doug Morrison, Tim Carver, Neil Pragg
Four years ago, David passed the chairmanship of Carver Group to his cousin Tim (Jos’s son) and, with an eye to the future, David’s son, Chris (eighth generation), has also joined the board. At 80, David feels a great sense of pride in passing on the family business to the next generation.
struck a deal to become the sole UK distributor. Over time, Carver began assembling and manufacturing parts for the units in the UK, eventually selling the business back to Phillip Kreis for a significant profit. The surplus from the deal allowed Carver to make its first major acquisition – Biddle, a manufacturer of air curtains. “Suddenly, we were a multi-national manufacturing company based in Holland and the UK, and it went on from there,” says David. The company subsequently bought a second air curtain business, Thermoscreens, and both brands still form a major part of Carver Group. Today, the company holds eight brands, has a presence in fifty countries and manufactures from five locations around the world. Over 250 years, Carver Group has moved from horse whips to clamps and caravan heaters to air conditioning but, at its heart, remains an engineering success story – one in which family members with a passion and flair for designing and making things have taken the company from one chapter to another.
printing and cabbage shredding for pickles. It was not until David’s father designed and made a new type of clamp, while fixing David’s scooter one Saturday morning, that the fortunes of the company began to change. “Dad couldn’t find a clamp in the welding shop so he drew one out in chalk, direct onto steel plate, flame cut it out and welded it together. The engineers came in on Monday morning, picked it up, decided it was a good piece of kit and made a few more.” That clamp, known as the Rack Clamp, and a salesman named Derek Underwood, transformed the business. Carver Clamps are still being made and sold around the world today.
I’ve never felt a sense of ownership but one of trusteeship,” he says. “The family owns the business which I’ve treasured and nurtured. I’m now in the process of passing it on to the next generation.
Heating and air conditioning
In the mid-1960s Carver Group expanded into the business of heating and cooling. Jos Carver was a keen caravanner and sailor and, while caravanning on the continent, he saw a caravan heater in a neighbour’s van. The heater was made by a German company, Phillip Kreis, and Carver
Rack clamps, which are still made and sold by Carver Group today.
Princess Margaret with Jos Carver (left) at Earls Court 1982.
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