Started in 2018 by James and Catherine Whitmore. Run by them still.
“We opened Keys & Co. so that the piano you take home sounds the way it did when you played it in the showroom. Everything else is an extension of that promise.”
James trained as a piano technician in the late 1990s and spent more than two decades tuning, regulating and restoring instruments across the north of England. The problem he kept meeting was a familiar one: beautifully made pianos leaving big-chain showrooms without the preparation they needed, then arriving in family homes with sticking keys, uneven tone and a customer who did not know who to ring.
Catherine had spent her career in consultative retail and she had her own frustration: piano shops that felt transactional. People being asked to make a five-figure decision in a noisy room under fluorescent light.
Keys & Co. Piano Studio was the answer to both of those. A showroom where every instrument is prepared by a qualified technician before it leaves the floor, and where the atmosphere is deliberately unhurried. Private viewing rooms. The kettle on. Nobody following you around.
We opened at 14 Montpellier Parade in Harrogate and we've been here ever since.
Co-Founder · Technician James trained as a piano technician in the late 1990s and has spent more than 20 years tuning, regulating, and restoring instruments across the north of England. He prepares every piano that leaves the showroom himself.
Co-Founder · Customer Relations Catherine runs customer relations and day-to-day operations at Keys & Co. She's the first person most families meet when they step into the showroom, and the reason the place feels unhurried by design rather than by accident.
Every piano — new or pre-owned — is inspected, regulated, and voiced in our workshop before it reaches the showroom. No shortcuts.
Private viewing rooms, tea on the hob, and nobody following you around. You play for as long as you need to play.
James prepares your piano, James tunes it the first time, James picks up the phone when you ring. That doesn't change.
No piano lessons, no rentals, no piano removals. If you need one of those things, we'll happily point you to a trusted colleague.
Tuesday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm, at 14 Montpellier Parade, Harrogate.