APV was the name of a company making process equipment, and remains as a brand name.
History
editIt was founded in 1910 as the Aluminium Plant & Vessel Company Limited, fabricating equipment for breweries and vegetable oil in Wandsworth.[1][2] In the 1950s it moved to Crawley and expanded considerably, under the name A.P.V. Co. Ltd.[2] In 1967 it acquired Kestner Evaporator and Engineering Co, another major process plant manufacturer.[3]
Continuing expansion led to a works of 1600 employees under the name APV International, supplying equipment services to the dairy, food and chemical industries by 1984. In addition a foundry employing 350 people named APV Paramount made high alloy steels and Vent-Axia a subsidiary company making fans, were near by.[2] In 1987 it merged with Baker Perkins to become APV Baker, later shortened to APV.[4] The two manufacturing arms remained physically separate and the APV section was acquired by Siebe plc in 1997.[1] After the merger of Siebe with BTR plc, APV was acquired by SPX Corporation in 2007 where it remains as a brand name for pumps, valves, heat exchangers, mixers and homogenizers in the process industries.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c www.spx.com Archived 2014-01-12 at the Wayback Machine APV History and Facts
- ^ a b c British History Online Crawley New Town: Economic history
- ^ "Company Meeting: A. P. V. Holdings". Times. London. 19 May 1967. p. 22.
- ^ www.westwoodworks.net The Merger with APV
Further reading
edit- Dummett, G. A. (1981). From little acorns : a history of The A.P.V. Company Limited. London: Hutchinson Benham. ISBN 9780091463700.