The history of Gist Limited dates back as far as 1920, when George Littmoden began moving fruit and vegetables to Covent Garden market by horse and cart. George's business, called GL Baker, began transporting fresh fruit for Marks & Spencer in 1932. In 1969, The BOC Group acquired GL Baker, after it expressed interest in its use of liquid nitrogen in chilled containers. The company was renamed BOC Distribution Services in 1991, before being rebranded as Gist Limited (Gist being the 'heart of logistics') and moving its headquarters to Chineham in 2001.