The company was founded in 1961 by Raymond Cooke OBE (1925-1995) and was initially housed in a hut on the premises of "Kent Engineering & Foundry" (hence the name KEF) - a metal processing company, on the banks of the River Medway, near Maidstone in Kent.
Cooke, a former BBC electrical engineer, wanted to experiment with new materials and technologies to create products of superior sound quality that could reproduce recordings to a natural level similar to the original.
From the beginning, the pioneering inventiveness of KEF loudspeakers was undeniable and now for several decades, audiophiles around the world revere KEF for its innovative, high-performance speakers.