Baker Perkins

Worldwide Headquarters:
Paston Parkway, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England

Bread mixing and forming equipment for plant bakeries
Complete lines for biscuits, cookies and crackers
Cooking and depositing lines for confectionery
Traditional and extruded breakfast cereal systems
Extruded and co-extruded snack lines
Extruders for powder coating manufacture

Baker Perkins Ltd is a British engineering company based in Peterborough offering manufacturing and process services to the food industry throughout the world.

The company has its origins with Jacob Perkins (1766-1849), an American inventor who moved to England in 1819 from Massachusetts. His son, Angier March Perkins (1799-1881), founded the firm of A. M. Perkins & Co Ltd to manufacture his inventions. In 1893, the company merged with Werner & Pfleiderer (London) to form Werner, Pfleiderer & Perkins Ltd. In 1904, WP&P moved their manufacturing from London to Westwood, Peterborough. In 1914, owing to pressure over its German-sounding name, the company became Perkins Engineers Ltd. During World War I, the company produced a range of armaments including Ricardo engines for Mark IV tanks. In 1918 it merged with Joseph Baker & Sons Ltd of Willesden to become Joseph Baker Sons & Perkins Ltd and in 1923, Baker Perkins Ltd.

By the time of the merger, Baker and Perkins were well-established names in the bakery, biscuit, confectionery, chocolate and chemical machinery industries. Just as the companies combined, the Bakers bought a factory in Saginaw, Michigan, that for over 60 years was the base for manufacture of food and chemical equipment in North America.

Between the wars, the company manufactured a wide range of machinery including laundry equipment. In 1939, Baker Perkins was asked to take on production of the new twin 6-pounder coast defence gun and also made components for a wide range of other artillery pieces. Post war, Baker Perkins specialised in equipment for the food processing and printing industries.