During the 1960's Ken Morris had been working for Stainless Steel profilers in north London before he decided that he wanted to set up in business for himself. Starting off working from home (he remembers having a garden full of steel!) he began by trading surplus stock.
KKS named after his three children enjoyed rapid progress and within a decade we opened our own facilities in Hoddesden along with new businesses in Sheffield and Swindon. During this time our capital investment saw us investing heavily in state of the art plasma cutting and band sawing facilities.
At our peak in 1989 we employed 69 people but anyone in business at the time will recall that these were uncertain economic times certainly in the south of England. The housing bubble burst, bringing with it a recession in the south that was almost unheard of and unfortunately like many other businesses we were forced to rationalise.
The 90's was all about the growth of bar to the point where bar and bar blanks became a hugely important part of our business. Toward the end of the 90's Ken was thinking about selling the business and it took a few years to finally happen but in November 2005 we became part of the Metals UK group.
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| 1969 |
| Ken Morris starts KKS Trading Company. Working from home, and named after his three children Kim, Kevin and Stephen, the business specialised in trading Stainless Steel and hi-Nickel content surplus stock. |
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| 1970 |
| Company becomes incorporated and moves into the Hoddesden office. |
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| 1971 |
| Ken buys his first Falcon Powder Cutting machine enabling KKS to supply the profile market. |
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| 1973 |
| The first bar Saw is purchased, KKS can now supply cut bar and plate. |
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| 1980 |
| KKS expands to offices in Sheffield and Swindon. |
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| 1984 |
| KKS Tubes Limited is formed |
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| 1988 |
| The company employes 69 people at its peak |
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| 1989 |
| The recession hits KKS hard, Swindon and sheffield offices close with the loss of over 30 jobs |
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| 1990's |
| Bar starts to gain prominance over plate Ken responds by investing in bar sawing facilities. |
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| 2000 |
| The biggest bar saw in the UK is purchased, capabale of cutting bar 1 meter in diameter. |
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| 2005 |
| KKS is purchased by Metals UK Ltd and becomes part of the Metals Group Family of Companies. |
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