| Grain
Perry of Oakley Celebrate 70 Years in
the Agricultural Industry
This year marks the 70th anniversary for Perry of Oakley Ltd, the UK’s most experienced
manufacturer of materials handling and drying equipment. During those 70 years it has
witnessed first-hand the evolution of the agricultural industry.
he company was
founded in 1947 by
Tom Perry, a
farmer’s son, who
offered a mobile
repair and
manufacturing service to local
farmers and businesses in the
Oakley, Basingstoke area of
Hampshire.
1949 saw Tom Perry designed
and build the company’s very first
belt and bucket elevator with a
capacity of 5tph, and first grain
cleaners. These early cleaners were
equipped with mechanical sieves
and aspiration to lift off dust and
light rubbish. Today, Perry’s range
of Belt & bucket elevators have
been developed for both
agricultural & industrial use and are
available in capacities up to
1000tph at heights of up to 30m,
while the range of grain cleaners
provides a solution for every
customer’s needs.
During the early 1950’s many
new farm mechanisation aids were
T
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designed and manufactured by
Tom Perry. These included tractor
mounted buck rakes, trailers, dust
reduction systems for combine
harvesters and jog trough grain
conveyors driven by petrol engines
or electric motors. These conveyors
had capacities of up to 5tph, as
capacity requirements increased
the first chain and flight conveyors
were developed. These conveyors
were the fore-runners of the
conveyors that Perry’s currently
design and manufacture with
capacities up to 1000tph.
Since 1950, Perry of Oakley have
sold thousands of machines, in the
UK and abroad, handling and
drying everything from standard
cereals to digestate, pellets,
minerals, dust, woodchip and even
waste fish! Perry are so confident in
the capabilities and longevity of
their machines that they are now
offering a 10-year guarantee on
their standard agricultural
conveyors (T’s & C’s apply).
With Tom’s passion for
improving agricultural machinery
the business grew and in 1952 the
first small factory was built in
Oakley. Tom’s son, Nigel Perry
joined the business in 1972 and
shortly after Patricia, Nigel’s wife
also came on board.
Under Nigel’s leadership Perry’s
expanded to such a degree that in
1974 a brand new, purpose-built
factory was built in Oakley to house
the company. By 1990 the business
had expanded again and required
larger premises and Nigel made the
decision to relocate the business to
their current site in Devon.
The following year, David Perry,
Nigel & Patricia’s son, joined the
company having achieved a First
Class Honours degree in
engineering. David worked with his
parents for 16 years until he took
over as Managing Director in 2007,
although Nigel and Patricia are still
spotted around the factory 10 years
after they retired.
David Perry has continued to
expand the business investing in
the staff, the latest technologies,
manufacturing capabilities,
research & development projects.
Since David became Managing
Director, Perry’s have released
several key products including Ezi
Quote, a revolutionary online
quoting system allowing customers
to produce their own quotes. He
also released the Perry
CentriKleens, a system that catches
97% of all dust and chaff emitted
from driers.
Since 1955, when Perry’s first
grain drier was manufactured with a
capacity of 5tph, their grain driers
have become the front runners of
continuous mixed flow driers. This
year has seen the release of their
Savannah series drier, which is
capable of capacities of up to
150tph. The Savannah series is a
cont..
October 2017 | Farming Monthly | 15