Bahco Tools - Brief History

Bahco is a modern brand but with roots going back to the industrial revolution of Sweden in the late eighteen hundreds. Bahco's mission is to provide the most value productivity solutions in the world. Bahco's core values of performance products, that are well designed and available globally, backed up with local expertise, have their beginnings in the vision, creativity and entrepreneurship of the company pioneers.

In 1862 Göran Fredrik Göransson founded Högbo Stål & Jernwerks AB, Sweden, who produced high quality steel using the Bessemer Process. From this beginning he then developed into producing saw blades, starting in 1886. The saws were of the same high quality as the steel they were made from and performed to the expectation of their users. As today, the saws and all other tools were marked with the "Fish & Hook" brand as a symbol for the highest quality.

The very same year, 1886, Johan Petter Johansson established his company Enköpings Mekaniska Verkstad in Enköping Sweden. J P Johansson was both a clever and creative craftsman, and in 1888 he got his first patent for "The Iron hand"; known today as the pipe wrench. J P Johansson's idea was to replace fixed spanners with a single tool able, as the human hand, to fit different sizes of bolts and nuts.

These were the beginnings of product innovation and design that still prevail within the company today. In 1891 his next patent was the very first adjustable spanner. This was the basis for the adjustable wrench as we know it. A Swedish invention found all over the world that Bahco have produced more than 100 million examples of - so far! Before he died in 1943 J. P. Johansson held no less than 118 patents for innovative products.

In 1890 Berndt August Hjorth acquired the sales and marketing rights for products from Enköpings Mekaniska Verkstad. His entrepreneurial skills ensured that the company became more than just a local Swedish success and laid the basis for the international brand that Bahco is today - combining global products with local market knowledge and expertise so that users everywhere find the product they need to do the best possible job.

Over the years there have been many developments and acquisitions that made the company what it is, a producer of a wide range of saws and hand tools for professional and discerning users.

Bahco professional tools are used in a wide range of trades the world over. Bahco's famous product range includes the Bahco Adjustable Wrench which has sold well over 100,000,000 units worldwide!