Demetrius Comino

Demetrius (always known as 'Dimitri') Comino (Greek: Δημήτριος Κομηνός) was born in Sydney, the eldest son of a Greek oyster merchant who had migrated from the island of Kythira in 1884. He demonstrated his creativity aged 12 when he invented a toy submarine,[2] and after attending Sydney Grammar School, travelled to London in 1921 to study electrical engineering at University College London. After graduating with a first class honours degree in 1924, Comino served a three-year apprenticeship with British Thomson-Houston in Rugby before leaving to establish a printing business, Krisson Printing Ltd, near Oxford Circus in central London ("Krisson" being Greek for 'better').[1][3]

The printing business grew quickly, but Comino never felt happy in printing and wanted further business challenges.[3] In 1937, he established Dexion Ltd (from the Greek for 'right') to market products he had developed and patented to improve the efficiency of the printing process. These included: a gauge to check the squareness and register of a printer's forme;[4] trolleys; chutes; a duplicate book;[5] interlocking frames to hold print in place inside the chase; and a compositor's chart.[6] As a printer, he was also concerned about the lack of versatility of the wooden shelving often for storing paper and other consumables. He began to work on steel shelving which could readily be assembled, dismantled and then reassembled. By 1939 he had developed an angled section made of steel with slots cut down one side and a long groove cut down the other. Birmingham-based Accles & Pollock manufactured an initial batch which was delivered in late August, a week before the declaration of the Second World War on 3 September 1939, and Comino sold most of this angled section to local stores of Lillywhites, John Lewis and Selfridges.[1]

During the war, partly because of paper rationing, the Krisson printing business shrank, but Comino's engineering background and problem-solving mentality helped him shift into new areas of machining. Having turned down a managerial position in an aircraft factory offered by the Ministry of Aircraft Production, he installed equipment to make aircraft parts, with the Ministry of Labour allocating lathes, drills, milling machines and other machine tools.[1]

Meanwhile, Comino continued to experiment with the angled steel lengths made before the war. Eventually, he worked out that by fitting one angled section into another and bolting them together through carefully positioned holes he could produce a very rigid joint, and, in addition to adjustable shelving, he began to develop ideas of what other structures could be created using the product.

After the war, Krisson resumed as a printing business, but Comino left day-to-day management in the hands of senior staff so that he could devote himself to the Dexion slotted angle concept (though he did write a history of the printing business, published as The Krisson Story in 1953). Several prototypes were made, and in 1946, with £7000 savings and £7000 borrowed from Krisson's bankers, he invested in a second-hand Henry & Wright standard die press, and began manufacture, adapting the press so that the steel strip could be continuously fed into it and painted. In May 1947, he established a factory in Chingford in north-east London, staffed by nine factory workers and one sales person,[7] but sales were initially disappointing, partly due to post-war cash payment requirements. However, sales and production increased to 50,000 feet per week in 1949, generating a business turnover of £500,000 that year. During 1950, the Dexion strips began to be used for exhibitions, and production reached 125,000 feet per week, and a new Dexion factory was opened in Enfield.[1]

Dexion quickly faced competition. The prior existence of Meccano prevented a generic patent[2] so Dexion patents were restricted to slot and hole configurations,[8] and other UK and European companies began offering different hole patterns and metal strip thicknesses. But by 1956 Dexion's turnover exceeded £2m, and of the company's 700 employees, 200 were based outside its three UK plants – in factories in Australia, Belgium and Canada, with licensees in other countries (France, Chile, Spain, Argentina and the US).

The main scoreboard and television platform at the 1956 Winter Olympics' ski stadium at Cortina d'Ampezzo was constructed from Dexion, and Ghana's independence celebrations in 1957 involved grandstands for 10,000 people, six miles of crush barriers and 500 bunting poles – all made of Dexion.[2]

In 1968, the company went public, buoyed by results showing a 40% increase in world sales to £14m and a new record profit of £1.133m. However, the early 1970s UK recession proved challenging, and following two poor trading years, Dexion came to the attention of Chicago-based steel company Interlake Inc, and a £9.4m sale eventually took place in July 1974, valuing Dexion at £4m less than its 1968 flotation price. Comino, by this point Dexion's chairman, retired, though he retained a place on the company's board until 1978.[1]

Under its new management, Dexion flourished for 20 years with sales reaching £200m by 1995. Interlake then sold Dexion, with ownership eventually passing to the Norway-based Constructor Group AS. UK manufacture ceased in 2003, but Dexion warehouse solutions are still marketed, generating a 2010 turnover of €100m from operations in 30 European countries.[1]

In September 1935, Comino married Katina Georgiadi, the daughter of a well-respected Rhodes family.[1] Together they had one daughter, Anna.

Comino died of a heart attack on 27 September 1988 while on holiday in Athens. A memorial tribute dinner was held on 5 June 1989 at the RSA.

Comino's association with Dexion in the UK was marketed until December 2011 with Constructor Group's UK sales office in Swindon trading as Dexion Comino Ltd.[16][17]

The Comino Foundation continues, and supports Comino Centres at the University of Winchester, Sheffield Hallam University and Liverpool John Moores University.[18]

Comino is also commemorated through an annual award by the Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Australia, which since 1980 has presented an annual "Storage and Handling of Materials Award" trophy dedicated to the Dexion founder.[19]

• Constructor Group