There’s a simple answer to that question – and it starts with a man called Jack Kent.
Born in Richmond, Yorkshire, Jack was a typical Yorkshireman. Straight talking, no nonsense and a belief that if a job was worth doing, it was worth doing well.
A true ‘countryman’ Jack had a deep knowledge and understanding of nature, the seasons and wildlife. He started Kent Services in 1976 with a bucket of rat bait, an ant sprayer, a van with his name on the side, and Joey, his rough-haired Jack Russell, who became a well-known ratter.
However, Jack’s journey towards setting up his own business came from a very varied career and life history.
At school Jack was a competent scholar, but his true strength and interest lay in sport, particularly his lifelong love of swimming and rugby.
As a young child Jack and his parents moved to Persia as was, now Iran where his father took up a job with BP working on the oilfields, and this is where he learnt Farsi. Aged just 9 he was sent back to the UK to board at Dover College in Kent where he remained until he was 18.
Rarely seeing his parents, Jack returned to relatives on their farm in Yorkshire for the school holidays which is where his love of the land and nature developed, and he came to enjoy the physicality of hard graft. His Uncle Fred became a big influence on Jack, not only was he a farmer, but an incredible forward thinker who never rested on his laurels.
As a young man Jack moved to Nottingham in 1958 to take up his first job as a Lab Assistant for Boots the chemist. It was during this time that he met the love of his life, his wife Maureen, a farmer’s daughter – which Jack felt was serendipity. Marrying in 1964, the newlyweds moved to Bradford where Jack took up a new sales role with Philips Petroleum. As his career flourished, and when living near Bedford he became Membership Executive for the Director General of the Institute of Marketing.
Continuing his career progression Jack became Managing Director of a pest control company, a role that drew on everything he’d learned from his chemical knowledge, farming, trapping rats, and even fumigating greenhouses at Boots. This work took him to American pest control conventions in New Orleans, Miami, Montego Bay, and Hawaii, often accompanied by Maureen. His love of travel continued throughout his life.
Although he was supposedly ‘retired’ Jack never quite understood the concept and remained very much involved in the day-to-day operations at Kent Service until he sadly passed away in the summer of 2026.
Anyone who knew Jack will tell you that he was a larger-than-life character. He had a personality that filled a room, a wealth of knowledge and, quite simply, a way of doing things that was very much his own. He was a force to be reckoned with – and for those who worked with him, knew him as a customer or crossed paths with him over the years, he became something of a legend. Jack naturally instilled a sense of loyalty, and this has been borne out by the many long serving members of the team who stayed with the company for many years.
Five decades on and as the business continues to grow, Jack’s personality remains very much at its heart.
Jack was curious, knowledgeable, and determined. He had strong opinions – and wasn’t necessarily one to keep them to himself! But that was Jack. He cared passionately about what he did, took enormous pride in his work and had an instinctive understanding of the land, wildlife and the changing world around him. His was a knowledge built over a lifetime.
The baton has now been passed Jack’s daughter Lucie and Managing Director Pete, who are taking the business forward while retaining the values, practical expertise and environmental awareness that Jack worked so hard to establish.
The name Kent Services remains because Jack remains part of the story.
It is a reminder of where the business came from, of the standards he set and of the knowledge and experience that have been passed down through the generations.
To quote a ‘Jack-ism’… Get your head down, backside up and keep your shovel moving.
RIP. Jack Kent 1940 - 2026