58
PERSONALITY PROFILE
“I’m going to miss it,
but one must move on!”
Chris Kyle, outgoing General Manager of CalAfrica, looks back at
a lifetime in the plumbing industry before his retirement. He is
an icon of the industry who has not just worked for companies,
but been deeply involved in the professional development of the
industry itself.
By Eamonn Ryan
Kyle was one of the first contributors to
Plumbing Africa, writing thought-provoking
technical articles ever since its early days
in 1998, when the magazine was a four-
page newsletter, and says he will continue
to contribute to Plumbing Africa – as well as
magazines in the other fields he has become
involved in over the years – notwithstanding
his retirement from his current job. He is not
retiring from the industry, he pointedly says.
Getting involved in what was to be a lifelong
involvement in the plumbing industry was not a well
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“At the time I joined I had no strong intention
of remaining for any length of time, nor being
involved in the plumbing industry, but rather
viewed it as a means to an end to pay for my
commercial pilot studies and training. In those
days, companies were very particular about who
represented the company, based on one’s product
knowledge and attitude. I started out selling the
product primarily to the merchant trade, but
showed more interest in the technical side of the
business. Due to forward thinking and technical
innovation the companies’ product offerings and
solutions were mostly advanced for the time by
comparison to what was available in the rest
of the manufacturing industry in South Africa.
Because the products needed specific technical
installation requirements to function properly, the
business had a considerable focus on serving the
architectural and engineering fraternity to ensure
their correct installation and application.
“This focus also enabled getting the product
‘specified’ into projects of all sizes and also
opened up the opportunity of providing ‘value add’
services by giving capable design input into the
entire plumbing system as part of a development’s
overall design plan – including the tanks, pumps,
piping and hot water generation – even if they
weren’t Castle Brassworks products. And that’s
what I wanted to do. The company did regular
psychometric profiling of staff, from which it
was identified that I should indeed be on the
technical side. So I shifted there,” says Kyle. After
the acquisition by Cobra, he continued on the
specifications side of the business dealing with
architects and mechanical engineers – this time on
a national basis.
Kyle says his retirement is no final parting.
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
thought out decision by Kyle. One of his early jobs
in 1979 was as a junior sales person for Castle
Brassworks, who manufactured technologically-
advanced brass products run by a German
gentleman, Mr Buehler. In 1985, the company was
sold to Cobra and is now owned by the Lixil Group.
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September 2019 Volume 25 I Number 7