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By Paul Rogne
The success of the British Drum Company, which seemed to suddenly come out of nowhere and become a great success, is well known by now. They have been able to skillfully balance rapid sales growth, increase their production capabilities, and resist outsourcing overseas, all while maintaining the high quality that they’ve become known for. Like any success story, it’s been a story of ups and downs with its fair share of struggles and trials, but also with determination and a team full of great talent. This story presents a non-linear timeline of their journey up to this point.
2003 – KD Drums is founded by Keith Davidson
Unlike most boutique drum companies, Keith decided KD would make their own drum shells rather than buy them off the shelf. He did this not only to further distinguish his company from the competition, but because he believed he could make a much better instrument. Part of his confidence came from years of working with wood alongside his father and eventually becoming a cabinet maker. As a drummer and woodworker, he combined his talent and passion to experiment with custom drums. Once he was satisfied with his design, he started KD Drums with a loan from the Prince’s Trust Charity. This temporarily sends out timeline back to…
1976 – The Prince’s Trust Charity is founded in the United Kingdom
During this time, the now King Charles III had the altruistic goal of helping vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supported 11 to 30-year-olds who are unemployed and those struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. It runs a range of training programs, providing practical and financial support to instill young people with confidence and motivation. Each year they work with about 60,000 young people, with 3 out of every four moving on to employment, education, volunteering, or training.
2010 – KD Drums is purchased by Premier Drums
At that time, Premier was also in a bit of a downturn. They had recently moved out of their landmark facility and into a smaller building. They also moved production and shell molds to Taiwan, where their hardware was also being built. Sadly, in 2017 Premier’s original iconic building was bulldozed to make room for a new supermarket.
With no production happening in England, Premier still wanted to release a high-quality series of English crafted drums and saw the opportunity to financially strained but superior-quality KD Drums.
Premier also experienced financial woes back in 1984 and had to enter into receivership by a consortium headed by the Royal Bank of Scotland. “Receivership” is a situation where an institution is held by a receiver–a person “placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights”–especially in cases where a company cannot meet its financial obligations and is said to be insolvent.
1987 – Yamaha acquires Premier
In an attempt to establish the Yamaha name in the tougher European market, Yamaha placed machinery and trained Premier craftsmen in the “Yamaha way” of making drums, resulting in Premier producing significant “Made in England” Yamaha drums.
1992 – Yamaha withdraws investment and sells stocks back to Premier.
2015 – After several years of a good relationship with Premier it came to an end.
At this point, Keith Davidson had built a set for British comedian Al Murray and as the relationship grew, they decided to go into business together. They put together a crack team of craftsmen and started the British Drum Company.
The level of craftsmanship and consistency immediately excited the drumming community. British Drum Company became known for their using only the finest laminations, hand-cut to precision, and built-up while being placed into their shell molds and literally clicking into place. This process takes more time and results in fewer shells being produces on a daily basis, but esthetically the drum shells look highly crafted and are finished off by their Art Deco-inspired Palladium lugs.
It is this attention to quality that continues to feed their growing roster of talented and widely-respected artists. It’s exciting to see a drum manufacturer that is making such a high-quality instrument that is impacting the drum-building industry much like Drum Workshop did in the 80s and 90s.
We raise a glass to your continued success!
www.britishdrumco.com/our-story
