History
Born in Tottenham, London, the son of a council clerk on October 18 1926, Richard Keogh was evacuated to the countryside during World War II where he was educated. Eventually Richard secured a place at St Catharines College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Masters degree in Agriculture.
After his graduation, Richard worked abroad in Central America and Jamaica, eventually finding himself in Canada where he was involved in chicken farming. However his overwhelming interest was a vision to reuse waste products as he had started doing in Central America and Jamaica. This vision and his passion were extremely difficult to establish in the throwaway years of the 1960s, so it was ironic that he would live to see a groundswell of interest in recycling towards the end of his life.
On his return to the UK with his wife and eight children, Richard once more became involved with intensive poultry production and the by-products of the same. Richard was somewhat unwillingly drawn into poultry catching something that did not sit too well with him. However, this friendly and softly spoken man understood the needs and concerns of his workforce, and was trusted implicitly by them, so he always had a ready supply of men that he could organise into teams. He could also negotiate on equal terms with his customers who recognised his professional knowledge and also trusted him.
During the ensuing years, Richard Keogh chose to leave the company to pursue his other interests. After this point, most members of the Keogh family where involved in the company, culminating in Nicky Keogh, the remaining member of the family retiring as a result of a management buyout by the two current directors. Both Gary and Mark have been involved with the company for a considerable amount of time and had the pleasure of knowing Richard Keogh and most of his family.
The business had been incorporated as a private limited company on the Novermber 19 1992, and had also moved bases from Everton (Notts) to new premises at Island Carr in Brigg.
It was at this time that the company stepped up its service to include the supply of forklifts, a key element of the modular system that most processors had adopted. This system was in stark contrast to the back breaking and laborious use of crates and heralded the start of a new era in the industry and in particular welfare.
Keyos ethos of providing a top quality service at an attractive price has meant that the company has grown consistently, right up to the present economic crisis. In 2007, Keyo moved into its current purpose built unit which benefits from bespoke maintenance facilities, fabrication bays, training rooms and offices. Our services now include complete door-to-door logistics as well as module fabrication, repairs, third party forklift servicing and spot hire and refurbishments.
With the anniversary of 45 years in business on the horizon, we settle into a new resolve for further growth and to focus even more on customer satisfaction. After all is said and done our customers were the foundations stones of the business in those early years, as they very much are today.