Shri K.L. Govil while teaching at St. Stephen’s High School decided to initiate an enterprise along with some of the teachers of that school, who were from Europe. So they set up a bookshop which also functioned as a publishing house. The idea was to encourage and motivate Indian teachers and scholars to write good quality books by facilitating a platform and to ensure that students in India are provided with books which are reliable and affordable. Shri K.L. Govil and his associates had their vision clearly carved out and placed integrity and honest business dealings above all else. So when they were mulling over a name for their enterprise, they were of the opinion that it should be one which would reflect their policy. So they took up the word ‘frank’ to symbolize the transparency of operations and coupled it with ‘brothers’ to signify a sense of camaraderie, and that was how ‘Frank Brothers’ came about.

Ever since its inception, K.L. Govil was very clear of his vision – to provide good books at affordable prices and more importantly to ensure that his customers always remained satisfied. So much so, that in the early part of the 1930s when it came to his notice that one of the Algebra books meant for High School students had some mistakes, all the books of this lot were recalled and burnt up. Customer care and customer satisfaction which has became the buzz word in India only of late was appreciated and understood by the founder as early as the 1930s and 1940s when he made it a point to visit all the principals and headmasters at least once a year, and if not, then correspond with them regularly, to seek their feedback.
This was one of the hallmarks which made Frank Brothers stand out in the business commune then and till today, is one of the guiding principles of the company.

With the outbreak of the World War II, the supply of paper to India had ceased as the main mill, the Titagarh Paper Mill, supplying paper to India was a British company. So the manager of Titagarh Paper Mills approached Shri K.L. Govil to take charge of the rationing of whatever paper was in stock with the Mill. Though initially reluctant as he could perceive the magnitude of the responsibility, he finally agreed, as someone had to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring that the demands of students and schools were met with, along with that of the publishers and that there was no hoarding of the paper for black marketeering purposes.

The task, for which Shri K.L. Govil was called upon, was Herculean, but he was a man of enterprise. He set about by tabulating the requirements, which was collected from all the schools and educational institutions. Based on this information, paper was judiciously rationed, which ensured that there was no shortage during this time of crisis and need. This earned him the respect of all the stakeholders and in turn generated a lot of goodwill. This goodwill has remained with the Company through more than seventy-five years of business and a loyal clientele who never wavered in their support and patronage.