Heritage & Culture

Perkins is Peterborough

Perkins is Peterborough 1 2 3 4 5

[prev] …200,000 per annum when the decade begun, soon fell to about 130,000. This pessimistic mood cast a cloud over Perkins’ 50th anniversary in 1982, with celebrations muted. However, as economies around the world picked up, so optimism rose again. Perkins even purchased the Rolls-Royce diesel factory in Shrewsbury in 1984, followed in 1986 by another plant belonging to Gardner in Manchester. There was licensee expansion into Turkey and Indonesia, and a deal with Austin Rover to develop a diesel unit for its Maestro, Montego and Sherpa models. The proud boast from Perkins was that this Prima car engine was the ‘first high speed diesel engine capable of 100mph and 100mpg’, and it picked up a Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement.

Today, Perkins is a high-tech, global concern

Today, Perkins is a high-tech, global concern

A major innovation during the 1990s was a new philosophy; that of comprehensive training for all employees to release and enhance the full potential of each Perkins’ person. Or rather VarityPerkins, as the company was briefly called from 1996 when owner Massey Ferguson changed its name to Varity. The identity alteration didn’t last long; Varity merged with the Lucas Group later the same year, and within a couple of years sold the Perkins side of its business to American industrial giant Caterpillar, a customer of the company since the 1970s. One of the welcome sweeps from the new broom was the return to the Perkins name.

The company today
Caterpillar still owns Perkins today, but the company retains a very clear identity, and flourishes because of it. ‘We operate and run in a very specific way, as Perkins,’ says Nigel. ‘The whole heritage and the brand value in Perkins is something that we and the rest of Caterpillar appreciate greatly.’

‘We can build a gen-set engine in Peterborough, sell it to somebody in Nigeria, and be sure that it’s going to work and operate properly’

Perkins has two new assembly centres in the rapidly expanding market of China – but Peterborough remains the headquarters of the company, with a workforce of 1800, out of 4500 worldwide. It’s also the largest manufacturing plant (out of six across the planet) and base for the main research and development and sales and marketing facilities. ‘The products that are core to our main business worldwide are all made here and we’ve very proud of that,’ says Nigel. Nowadays, the company focuses on construction, agricultural and power generation markets, although there are a ‘myriad of other applications’ covered, he clarifies. Engines researched, designed and produced in Peterborough now range in capacity from a diminutive 0.5 litres to a more meaty 7.1 litres, although Perkins’ Stafford plant builds one that is a whopping 64 litres. ‘Just about everywhere you go in the world, there will be Perkins engines running in power generation equipment. We’ve probably got the best reputation of anyone for these applications. It’s a traditional market for us, our products are robust and reliable, and we’ve got the global product support too. So, we can build a gen-set engine in Peterborough, sell it to somebody in Nigeria for example, and be sure that it’s going to work and operate properly, and have service and support.’

‘We’ve now manufactured 20 million engines, and we believe that more than half of them are still in operation’

Among the more unusual places Perkins engines can be found operating are in the Paris flood defences and at Shard in London, the 310-metre skyscraper that became the tallest building in the European Union when finished in 2012. And there are a lot of Perkins engines still out there. ‘We’ve now manufactured 20 million engines, and we believe that more than half of them are still in operation,’ says Annette Ward, the corporate and marketing communications manager for the company, rather proudly. Perkins is also very active on the local Peterborough scene; working with local schools, colleges and universities including the Thomas Deacon Academy, backing charities – Anna’s Hope is currently… [cont]

Perkins is Peterborough 1 2 3 4 5

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