Anglo-American Vulcanized Fibre was founded in 1929 by Henry Joseph Biddle. The company started from rented accommodation in Shoreditch and dealt exclusively in electrical insulation and machined components in Vulcanized Fibre. With the development of Bakelite, the product range was extended and the company moved to new premises in Clerkenwell.

Other major events in the company's history are set out below.

• 1939-45 Manufacting parts for Lancaster Bombers and Spitfires
• 1944 Anglo-American receives direct hit from V1 rocket
• 1947 Relocation to Cayton Works in Bath Street, London
• 1960 New plant opens in Shoreditch, London
• 1971 Shoreditch plant relocates to Bideford in Devon
• 1972 Anglo-American is taken over by Jones Stroud Holdings
• 1976 Takeover of moulding organisation Essex Mica Company
• 1977 Takeover of moulding organisation Design and Improvements of Wells
• 1978 The London (Bath Street) operation moves to Cording Street, Bow, London
• 1989 Takeover of Mica and Micanite Ltd: establishment of a presence in Widnes
• 1991-92 All London operations relocate to Bideford
• 1995 Wells operation relocates to Bideford
• 2000 Anglo-American acquired by August Krempel Soehne GmbH+Co of Germany