In 1927, he purchased the Royal Worcester Porcelain Factory's historic ceramics collection for a price above market value to assist the firm's cashflow.

In 1946, he established the Perrins Trust to unite the factory museum collection and his own private holdings of Royal Worcester and ensure their survival.

He was a major benefactor of the Royal Grammar School, Worcester and endowed new buildings including Perrins Hall (1914) named after his father, an old boy.

During Perrins's life, he amassed one of the most important book collections in the world, particularly strong in medieval illuminated manuscripts and printed ballads.

To help finance and re-establish the Royal Worcester factory after World War II, he decided to sell his important collection of early printed books, and they were mostly dispersed in a series of sales at Sotheby's in London in 1946 and 1947.