Arthur Keen (January 23, 1835 - February 8, 1915) was a British entrepreneur, the Keen in engineering firm Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds, later GKN plc. January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... For the computer game previously called Entrepreneur, see The Corporate Machine. ... Engineering is the design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. ... GKN plc is a British engineering company formerly known as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds and tracing its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the industrial revolution. ...

Early years

His early years are uncertain but he was born in Cheshire, perhaps near Northwich, the son of a farmer. His early education seems to have been meagre before he joined the London and North Western Railway, probably in some clerical capacity. Somewhere around 1855, he was appointed a goods agent for the railway and relocated to Smethwick where his job led to a network of industrial contacts including Thomas Astbury (1810-1862) who introduced him to Francis Watkins. In 1858, Keen married Astbury's daughter, Hannah. The couple were to go on to parent ten children in half a century of family life in Edgbaston. The Cheshire Plain - photo taken adjacent to Beeston Castle The Cheshire Plain - photo taken towards Merseyside The Cheshire Plain panorama - photo taken from Mid-Cheshire Ridge Cattle farming in the county Black-and-white timbered buildings on Nantwich High Street Cheshire (or, archaically, the County of Chester)[1] is a... Arms of Northwich Town Council Statistics Population: 19,259 (2001) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SJ651733 Administration District: Vale Royal Shire county: Cheshire Region: North West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Cheshire Historic county: Cheshire Services Police force: Cheshire Fire and rescue: Cheshire Ambulance... Traditional Eastern European Farmer Woman. ... The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed in 1846 by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham and Manchester and Birmingham. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Smethwick (pronounced Smethick) is a town adjacent to Birmingham and West Bromwich in England. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Edgbaston constituency shown within Birmingham Edgbaston is an area and ward in the city of Birmingham in England. ...

Industrialist

Watkins was trying to market his patent nut-making machine in England and Keen saw the potential of the business. The firm of Watkins and Keen was established with capital from Astbury. The firm prospered and in 1864 was launched as a limited company, Watkins retiring a few years later. Keen continued to expand the business through a series of astute mergers and acquisitions. Keen's objective was to establish himself as the market leader in fasteners through aggressive pricing and economies of scale. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which... A nut is a type of hardware fastener with a threaded hole. ... Wind turbines The scientific definition of a machine is any device that transmits or modifies energy. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has a second meaning based on an alternative sense of capital) is the principal city or town associated with a countrys government. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Limited liability company. ... Merger redirects here. ... Market share, in strategic management and marketing, is the percentage or proportion of the total available market or market segment that is being serviced by a company. ... A fastener is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Economies of scale characterizes a production process in which an increase in the number of units produced causes a decrease in the average cost of each unit. ...

Though he modelled his approach on that of another Birmingham firm, Nettlefold and Chamberlain, he achieved less success, possibly being less ruthless and embedded in a more complicated market segment. The city from above Centenary Square. ... John Sutton Nettlefold (1792 – 1866) was a British industrialist and entrepreneur. ... Market segmentation is the process in marketing of dividing a market into distinct subsets (segments) that behave in the same way or have similar needs. ...

In 1899, Keen bought the Dowlais Iron Company for £1.5 million from Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, forming Guest, Keen & Co. (GK). At this point, Keen's facility for takeover seems to have faltered with a series of aborted mergers, including one proposed with United States Steel Corporation. However, in 1902, he completed a merger with the neighbouring business of Nettlefolds Limited to create Guest, Keen and Nettlefold (GKN). Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... GKN plc is a British engineering company formerly known as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds and tracing its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the industrial revolution. ... GBP may be: short for Game Boy Player the ISO currency code for the British Pound Sterling. ... Sir Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne (29 August 1835)- (22 February 1914), in Dowlais, Wales was the son of Lady Charlotte Guest, translator of the Mabinogion, and John Josiah Guest, owner of the worlds largest iron foundry. ... The United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States and Central Europe. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Joseph Henry Nettlefold (September 19, 1827 - November 22, 1881) was a British industrialist, the Nettlefold in Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. ...

GKN was an enormously profitable business and Keen was held in high regard. Much of the business's profitability stemmed from a successful policy of price maintenance through the Birmingham Alliance that he forged with trade unionist Richard Juggins and which was realised in the midland iron and steel wages board. He became a director of the Birmingham and Midland Bank in 1880 and led the series of mergers that established it as the London, City, and Midland Bank. In microeconomics, production is the act of making things, in particular the act of making products that will be traded or sold commercially. ... A Trade Union (Labour union) ... is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Midland Bank (now part of HSBC) opened as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836. ...

Public life

Keen made extensive contributions to civil society, including twenty-five years on the Smethwick board of health, service as one of Staffordshire County Council's first aldermen and work with Joseph Chamberlain on the foundation of the University of Birmingham. The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that states political system) and commercial institutions. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... In the British Isles, a county council is a council that governs a county. ... An alderman is a member of a municipal legislative body in a town or city with many jurisdictions. ... The Rt. ... Website http://www. ...

Though a Liberal, he opposed home rule and was active in the Liberal Unionist cause. He supported Chamberlain's tariff reforms and served as part of the iron and steel commission. Though called upon, he declined to stand for parliament. This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ... Devolution or home rule is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a state to government at national, regional or local level. ... A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modelled after that of the United Kingdom. ...

Honours

• Vice-president Iron and Steel Institute, (1895-1915)
• Vice-president Institution of Mechanical Engineers, (1897-1911)

The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3 or IMMM) was officially recognised by the UKs Privy Council on 26 June 2002. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... Logo The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is the British engineering society concerned with mechanical engineering. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Bibliography

• Jones, E (1987) A History of GKN Volume 1: Innovation and Enterprise 1759-1918 ISBN 0-333-34594-0
• Obituary - Birmingham Daily Post, February 9, 1915

For the former Birmingham, Alabama newspaper, see Birmingham Post-Herald. ...

External links

• Smith, B.D.M. (2004) "Keen, Arthur (1835-1915)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 20 June 2005 (subscription required)