The Boorman Family
Barham Pratt Boorman, great-grandfather of the present chairman,
was the youngest member of a family who ran a general store in
Tenterden. He was interested in newspapers and in 1884 had launched
the Kent Examiner and Ashford Chronicle.
By then the Maidstone Telegraph had become the
Kent Messenger and Maidstone Telegraph and had editions in Dartford
and Sevenoaks as well as Maidstone. The papers were printed on a
steam driven press in Station Road, Maidstone.
But in 1890 the owners were flung into jail
after a series of costly libel actions. They appealed to Mr Boorman
for help. He raised funds to get them out of jail and then bought
the Kent Messenger from the cash-strapped brothers.
Over the next 40 years, "BP" spearheaded
radical technological change and company expansion. Linotype
machines were installed and revolutionised compositing by
automatically setting type that had been done by hand. New editions
were published and offices opened. Mr Boorman died in 1928 after 40
years at the helm. His son Henry Roy Pratt Boorman, grandfather of
the present chairman, took over.
The Guvnor
Roy Boorman, universally known as the Guvnor,
established the Kent Messenger as the pre-eminent newspaper in the
county.
He took over several titles including the
Maidstone Gazette and Journal (1936), the Chatham Observer (1937),
the Tonbridge Free Press (1958) and the Edenbridge Chronicle
(1968).
Circulation rose steadily, thanks in part to
Mr Boorman's view that, at a time when few people owned television
sets, pictures sold newspapers.
He was a good publicist for the KM, driving
all over the county looking for suitable sites for advertising
hoardings. One slogan read: "Kent Messenger for Maids and
Mistresses" - a risqué slogan for its time!
In the 1930s, the KM published a magazine
called "Kent Tells The World", featuring county industry and
organisations. Mr Boorman sent it to British embassies all over the
world.
The KM operated from premises in Week Street,
Maidstone, where the company flourished for more than half a
century. The building, which incorporated oast houses, was later
demolished after a serious fire. The site is now called Brenchley
House.
Edwin Boorman
Roy's son Edwin joined his father in the
business in 1959. He was about to emigrate to Canada to set up his
own printing business when the KM Group was caught up in a national
printing dispute.
As a strike loomed, Edwin offered his help to
continue publication during the crisis, which his father accepted.
After that Edwin stayed with the family business and steered the
company through decades of growth as managing director and,
subsequently, chairman.
Geraldine Allinson
In January 2006 Edwin Boorman retired as
Chairman after 19 years and became company President.
The role of Chairman was taken on by his
daughter, Geraldine Allinson, the great-granddaughter of the
founder. Geraldine, who worked for some of the UK's major regional
newspaper groups before joining the KM Group in 1993 as development
manager, said: "I would hope that if my great-grandfather could
look at everything the company has achieved since his sudden death
in 1928 he would congratulate his son and grandson for leading the
company through thick and thin and into a future he could not have
dreamed of."
Libby Lawson
In February 2006, Libby (Geraldine's cousin) became a
Non-Executive Director. Libby had previously worked in the
Commercial Team for over 10 years and now runs her own business in
Bilsington near Ashford.