Few details are available on this firm’s early history, but the ‘Moore’ in the name was Alexander (William) Parkin-Moore (1907-1979).  His father William Parkin-Moore, who was a wealthy landowner and High Sheriff of Nottingham.  When he died in 1937, he left £156,721.  His son, Alexander, had moved to London and in 1939 was described in the Register of England & Wales as the joint-managing director and designer of Mills, Moore & Co Ltd.  Perhaps the firm had been founded around that time.  It started as a manufacturer of ‘wood furniture’ and was soon marketing bread boards, salad bowls, and wooden condiments (such as salt and pepper pots).  The business was located at Gee’s Court, off Oxford Street, London.  Capital was £5,000, but this was doubled in 1943. 

After the War, the firm continued as a manufacturer of goods in natural timbers but began offering a selection of table cutlery with wooden handles.  In the 1950s, the business occupied a small factory at Turnham Green Terrace Mews, Chiswick.  Mills, Moore & Co appeared at various trade exhibitions, such as the British Industries Fair (1947).  Alexander Parkin-Moore also submitted his work to the Council of Industrial Design in 1952.  His cutlery and flatware were described as ‘Made of Sheffield stainless steel with natural English walnut handles.’ The stainless and walnut-handled table knives and forks of Mills, Moore & Co (often sold in boxed sets to increase their appeal) were distinctive enough for the firm to enjoy moderate success in the 1960s.  But the firm did not survive the influx of cheaper overseas cutlery and in 1971 it was liquidated.  Alexander W.  Parkin-Moore had long since retired to his country estate, Newton House, at Insch, Aberdeenshire.