Sir Kenneth Ben Myers

1 Nov

Ken Myers was the unsung hero of the liquor industry. He made a reluctant entry into the family business, the Campbell & Ehrenfried Company (C&E), in 1933, sacrificing a promising accountancy career with London-based Whinney Smith & Whinney.

Myers arrived in Auckland in the midst of the Depression and, as C&E's new chairman and managing director, he set about revitalising the liquor company and setting standards for the disorganised and run-down industry. He did this by upgrading hotels and facilities and introducing a rebuilding programme.

C&E's innovations, now taken for granted in the industry, included bulk-beer dispensing systems from tanks, beer gardens, a la carte dining and machine accounting.