Fareham-based manufacturer, Kelvion Ltd is celebrating 100-years of continuous trading.

The company was founded in 1921 by Charles Searle who, after a minor motoring accident, unable to find anyone to repair his car radiator spotted a potential business opportunity and created the Searle Radiator Company.

Originally operating from London’s Camden Town, the company grew strongly and in the late 1930’s opened a second factory in Quay Street, Fareham.

The Company continued to grow during the war years, turning its hand to the manufacture of important components for the Royal Air Force, in particular for the fastest bomber of WWII, the De Havilland D98, known as the ‘Wooden Bomber’ due to its mostly wooden construction.

In 1957 Searle purchased a 21-acre site on Newgate Lane, Fareham, to build a new factory and offices; a site which the Company still occupies today.

The manufacture of components for the aircraft industry, with its emphasis on quality coupled with experience in heat exchange, enabled the company to enter the field of refrigeration.

By the early 1950’s Searle had secured exclusive rights to manufacture and market refrigeration equipment throughout Europe and Africa under licence from American owned Dunham-Bush Inc.

In 1963 Searle became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hall-Thermotank Group and some years later, part of the Prestcold Group (a British Leyland Company), by which time employee numbers had grown to around 500.

In 1981 Searle joined Suter plc, consolidating its position as the UKs leading manufacturer of airside heat exchangers and a dominant force in Europe. In 2008 the company became part of the GEA group, retaining its Searle name, then in 2014 were acquired by Triton Investment LLP to become a jewel in the newly formed Kelvion group, and adopting the group’s name which was created in tribute to Lord Kelvin, the British engineer, mathematician, and physicist who formulated the laws of thermodynamics and absolute units of temperature.

The Kelvion group, is a leader in heat exchange, employing some 5,000 people worldwide in its 67 facilities located across 19 countries. Throughout its 100 years the company has remained at the forefront of the heat exchange industry; in large due to its skilled and loyal employees, high product quality, steadfast customers, and a continued investment in people, manufacturing processes, and product technology.

The company have an open day on 4th September 2021 in celebration of its 100th year, and all past and present employees are welcome – please contact the company for further information. All proceeds from the open day will go to Naomi House & Jacksplace, a local hospice that provides care to more than 600 life limited and life threatened children, young adults and families from central southern England., and with whom Searle have held a long association.