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Westwood Works 1903-2003

Trade Exhibitions

An important part of the life of any world-class manufacturing company was, and perhaps still is, attendance at the many International Trade Fairs that take place around the world each year. Involvement is truly part of the company's life because as soon as one major exhibition closes preparations begin for the next. Attendance, though very costly, is effectively mandatory as it is often the only occasion when existing and potential customers from around the world are able to examine the latest machinery and process developments. Expectations are high, particularly on the market leaders, so economising on investment is not an option. The size and quality of the stand, and the level of corporate hospitality, is expected to reflect the perceived market status of the exhibitor.

Baker Perkins, as a market leader, participated fully in all relevant Trade Fairs – showing Biscuit/C+C, Bakery, Printing, Laundry, Foundry and Chemical process machinery - particularly in the highly competitive years between the end of WW2 and the time that Westwood Works closed.

It is easy to believe, after experiencing the huge trade shows held in Germany and elsewhere during this period that high levels of "marketing" expenditure by manufacturing companies were a relatively recent phenomenon. That this is not so can be seen from the following extract from the Foreword to the "Baker Perkins at the British Empire Exhibition" brochure of 1925 which states:

"Our tale of Co-operation in the great exhibitions of the world goes back for over 40 years. Small when our business was small, our exhibits have grown as we have done, and many of our friends will remember the record of progress shown from the 'Healtheries' of 1882, through Paris, Chicago, Paris again, and St. Louis, to those London exhibitions which immediately preceded the war".

The expenditure involved in these exhibitions must have been of a very high order. The Paris 1900 and Wembley Exhibitions featured complete working "factories". By the time of the 1910 Japan-British Exhibition in London Joseph Baker & Sons had already been awarded 50 Grand Prix and Gold Medals at Trade Shows around the world.

Some of the Exhibitions attended before the Baker Perkins merger included:

The Bakers' and Confectioners' Exhibition – Royal Agricultural Hall, London , September 1897

Werner, Pfleiderer and Perkins agreed to supply, gratis, a complete baking plant installation. Although the company undoubtedly gained something in prestige with sales increasing by £4,000 the following year, Paul Pfleiderer's eye had been taken off the financial ball and the company was found to be making a loss.

Paris Exposition 1900

Joseph Baker & Sons had three separate exhibits, each in its own pavilion, covering Bread, Biscuit, and Chocolate & Confectionery equipment. All were working – driven by overhead lineshafts and drive belts - the biscuit "factory" being worked in association by Messrs, Olibet et fils, a leading biscuit manufacturer. It would be very interesting to have some idea of the cost of all this!

The First International Chemical Engineering Exhibition – London 1911

In the aftermath of the merger between Joseph Baker & Sons Ltd. and Perkins Engineers Ltd. in 1920, lavish expenditure on exhibitions continued:

British Empire Exhibition, Wembley 1924/1925

1924 – The newly developed combined swing tray prover and bread oven for "tin" bread was the highlight of the bakery equipment show. The plant being demonstrated was complete from the flour-blending machine to the wrapping machinery, it being the first time that the public had been able to see loaves being wrapped. I was a clear demonstration that Baker Perkins had fulfilled its promise to ensure that the " old drudgery and dirt of the bakehouse would give way to the cleanliness of mass production".

New improved equipment for cutting and embossing biscuits and an improved gas-fired travelling biscuit oven were worked in turn by Huntley & Palmers, Peek Frean and W. & R. Jacob. These innovations led to Baker Perkins having an almost complete monopoly of the gas-fired chain-oven market in the decade following the Exhibition.

1925 - In the Long Gallery of the Palace of Industry, Baker Perkins demonstrated fully working Bread, Biscuit and Chocolate & Confectionery factories. These operated, as closely as possible, under factory conditions with the co-operation of key food manufacturing companies such as Messrs. H.W. Nevill Ltd, Messrs. Meredith & Drew Ltd and Messrs. Carsons, Ltd.

More Baker Perkins equipment was used in the Australian Pavilion as part of the Australian Government Bakery exhibit that was used to display the merits of Australian flour, butter and dried fruit. Products from all of these exhibits found a ready sale among the thousands of visitors.

The Exhibition Brochure also indicates that although it was not possible to make an adequate exhibit of the company's specialities for the Chemical Industries, some mixers and relevant photographs were shown on the Institution of Chemical Engineers' stand.

NOTE: Some insight into the mood of the Westwood employees and management at this time – the aftermath of the "Great Fire of 1922" – can be found in Outings, the preparations for company employees to visit the British Empire Exhibition.

Paris Exhibition of Printing – 1965

In a development aimed at increasing the number of potential customers who could see a printing press in action, Baker Perkins chartered an aircraft to fly between Paris and Coventry during the whole of the exhibition period. Printers interested in web-offset could visit the offices of the Coventry Standard to see the publication being printed in colour on a "Halley-Aller" press.

Trade Exhibitions Around the World

There follows a series of photographs of Baker Perkins Exhibition stands at some of the major International exhibitions from between 1969 and 1986. Each section of Industry had its own International Exhibition that took place at anything from a one to four year interval.

These Exhibitions are massive undertakings, the printing machinery show – DRUPA – held in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1982 consisted of 13 halls, plus innumerable add-on marquees and temporary buildings, and featured 1,024 exhibitors. The influx of up to around two hundred thousand visitors to each event had a very significant effect on the economy of the City.

The Dusseldorf Exhibition Centre, in common with other major venues around the world, usually holds one major exhibition per year – one other of significance to Baker Perkins (and now APV Baker) being INTERPACK, where biscuit, chocolate & confectionery and packaging equipment is to be seen. Until 1978, Baker Perkins shared a stand with Rose Forgrove but, from 1981, the companies showed their products separately on two of the largest stands at the show. These occasions were often used to launch a new machine or process development – the high-profile event providing an opportunity to both impress the customers and wrong-foot the competition.

Although these major exhibition centres in Germany, France, Japan, the USA, and elsewhere, are custom built – with all the necessary equipment and services to allow very large pieces of complex process equipment to be demonstrated – exhibitors must often begin to install their machines in the show halls up to 3 months before the exhibition begins.

Work started even earlier back at Westwood Works. The behind the scenes work was massive and planning for the next show started as soon as the current one closed. Marketing and design departments began to develop their strategies and argue through at length the potential benefit to the customer of the proposed new developments. Work on process and machinery development projects accelerated as the exhibition date drew nearer. The finish of new machines was checked for flaws. Exhibition stands were designed and approved, with the layout of machinery planned and agreed. Contractors were hired to build the stands and shipping arrangements made to get the equipment to the show venue on time. Services to the stand – electricity, water and compressed air were organised. Films, promotional material and advertisements prepared, hotel accommodation booked and sales and service personnel briefed on the new equipment. Nothing was left to chance – everything checked and double -checked. In such a high-profile environment even the smallest error can severely damage the image of a company. The job of organising the stand design and the delivery of equipment, supply of services and all of the promotional material, press conferences, etc., fell to the Group Publicity Department in Baker Perkins Holdings (See Departments at Westwood Works)

Success at a major exhibition can be measured only partly in terms of what orders are taken at the event. Despite the fact that some high-profile orders were announced to coincide with the show, investment decisions in the process engineering business are made on a long-term basis and a customer's plans are often not finalised until after mature reflection on all that he has seen at these exhibitions. What this indicates, however is that trade shows were one of the most important events in Westwood's calendar.