<PAGE>

                                                     Registration No. 333-______

  As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 11, 2000
================================================================================

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D.C. 20549

                                   FORM S-8

                            REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                     UNDER
                          THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                              __________________

                                   APW Ltd.
            (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                BERMUDA                               04-2576375
    (State or other jurisdiction of                (I.R.S. Employer
    incorporation or organization)                Identification No.)

   N22 W23685 Ridgeview Parkway West
          Waukesha, Wisconsin                         53188-1013
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)              (Zip Code)

                     APW Ltd. Employee Stock Purchase Plan
                            (Full title of the plan)
                              ___________________

           RICHARD D. CARROLL                          Copy to:
             Vice President                   ANTHONY W. ASMUTH III, ESQ.
                APW Ltd.                          Quarles & Brady LLP
    N22 W23685 Ridgeview Parkway West          411 East Wisconsin Avenue
     Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188-1013           Milwaukee, Wisconsin  53202

                    (Name and address of agent for service)

                                (262) 523-7600
         (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)


                        Calculation of Registration Fee
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
===================================================================================================
                                                     Proposed          Proposed
                                                     Maximum           Maximum               Amount of
  Title of Securities          Amount to be       Offering Price       Aggregate           Registration
    to be Registered          Registered (1)      Per Share (2)      Offering Price (2)         Fee
    ----------------          --------------      --------------     ------------------    ------------
<S>                           <C>                 <C>                <C>                    <C>
     Common Stock,
par value $.01 per share     1,000,000 shares         $46.75             $46,750,000        $12,342.00
 (with attached Preferred
  Stock Purchase Rights)

===================================================================================================
</TABLE>
(1)  Each share of common stock will have attached thereto one preferred stock
     purchase right issued pursuant to the registrant's Rights Agreement.

(2)  Pursuant to Rule 457(h), the maximum aggregate offering price, estimated
     solely for computing the registration fee, is based upon $46.75 per
     share, which is the average of the high and low sales prices of the
     registrant's common stock on the New York Stock Exchange Composite Tape on
     October 6, 2000 as reported in The Wall Street Journal. The value
     attributable to the preferred stock purchase rights is reflected in the
     price of the common stock.

================================================================================
<PAGE>

                                    PART I

             INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

          Information specified in Part I of Form S-8 (Items 1 and 2) will be
sent or given to Plan participants as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the
Securities Act of 1933.

                                    PART II

              INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.   Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

          The following documents filed by APW Ltd. (the "Registrant")
(Commission File No. 1-15851) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission") pursuant to Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended (the "1934 Act"), are incorporated herein by reference:

          (a)  The Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 10 dated May 1,
               2000 (as amended by Amendment No. 1 and Amendment No. 2 on Form
               10/A filed on June 20, 2000 and July 11, 2000, respectively);

          (b)  The Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on July
               19, 2000;

          (c)  The Registrant's Quarterly Report Form 10-Q filed on August
               17, 2000; and

          (d)  The Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K reporting an event
               occurring on September 26, 2000.

          All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the 1934 Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have
been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be
deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof from the
date of the filing of such documents.

          Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded
for purposes hereof to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any
other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated
by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded,
to constitute a part hereof.

Item 4.   Description of Securities.

          Not applicable. See Item 3 above.

Item 5.   Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

          The legality of the securities registered hereunder will be passed
upon for the Registrant by Conyers Dill & Pearman, the Registrant's legal
counsel. The Registrant's Assistant Secretaries, Wayne Morgan and I.S.
Outerbridge, are members of Codan Services Limited, an affiliated company of
Conyers Dill & Pearman.

                                       1
<PAGE>

Item 6.   Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

          The bye-laws of APW Ltd. provide for indemnification of APW Ltd.'s
officers and directors against all liabilities, loss, damage or expense incurred
or suffered by any officer or director in his or her role as an officer or
director of APW Ltd. to the maximum extent permitted by Bermuda law. However,
the indemnification does not extend to any matter which would render it void
pursuant to the Companies Act 1981 as in effect from time to time in Bermuda.

          The Companies Act provides that a Bermuda company may indemnify its
officers and directors in respect of any loss arising or liability attaching to
them as a result of any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust
of which they may be guilty. A company is also permitted to indemnify any
officer or director against any liability incurred by him or her in defending
any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in which judgment is given in favor
of the director or officer, or in which he or she is acquitted, or in connection
with any application under relevant Bermuda legislation in which relief from
liability is granted to him or her by the court. However, the Companies Act also
states that any provision, whether contained in APW Ltd.'s bye-laws or in a
contract or arrangement between APW Ltd. and the director, indemnifying a
director against liability which would attach to him in respect of his or her
fraud or dishonesty will be void.

          The directors and officers of APW Ltd. are also covered by directors'
and officers' insurance policies maintained by APW Ltd.

Item 7.   Exemption From Registration Claimed.

          Not applicable.

Item 8.   Exhibits.

          See the Exhibit Index following the Signatures page in this
Registration Statement, which Exhibit Index is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.   Undertakings.

          (a)  The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

               (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                    (i)    To include any prospectus required by Section
                           10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

                    (ii)   To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
                           arising after the effective date of the Registration
                           Statement (or the most recent post-effective
                           amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
                           aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the
                           information set forth in the Registration Statement.
                           Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or
                           decrease in volume of securities offered (if the
                           total dollar value of securities offered would not
                           exceed that which was registered) and any deviation
                           from the low or high end of the estimated maximum
                           offering range may be reflected in the form of
                           prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule
                           424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume
                           and price represent no more than a 20% change in the
                           maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the
                           "Calculation of Registration Fee" table in the
                           effective Registration Statement;

                                       2
<PAGE>

               (iii)  To include any material information with respect to the
                      plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the
                      Registration Statement or any material change to such
                      information in the Registration Statement;

          Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of this
section do not apply if the Registration Statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8,
and the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by
those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed by the Registrant with
the Commission pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the Registration
Statement.

          (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be
a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

          (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

     (b)  The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the
Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an
employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     (h)  Reference is made to the indemnification provisions described in Item
6 of this Registration Statement.

          Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and
Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed
in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in
the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent,
submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such
indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will
be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                       3
<PAGE>

                                  SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the Village of Pewaukee, State of Wisconsin, on October 10, 2000.

                                       APW Ltd.
                                       (Registrant)

                                       By:  /s/ RICHARD D. CARROLL
                                            ----------------------
                                            Richard D. Carroll
                                            Vice President - Finance

                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

     KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears
below constitutes and appoints Richard G. Sim and Richard D. Carroll, and each
of them, his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of
substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in
any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective
amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all
exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and any other regulatory authority, granting
unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary
to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he
might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said
attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them, or their substitutes, may lawfully
do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the date indicated.*

         Signature                     Title

/s/ RICHARD G. SIM                     Chairman of the Board, President and
-----------------------------          Chief Executive Officer; Director
Richard G. Sim

/s/ RICHARD D. CARROLL                 Vice President - Finance
-----------------------------          (Principal Financial Officer)
Richard D. Carroll

/s/ TODD ADAMS                         Controller
-----------------------------          (Principal Accounting Officer)
Todd Adams

/s/ PETER DOUGLAS                      Director
-----------------------------
Peter Douglas

/s/ L. DENNIS KOZLOWSKI                Director
-----------------------------
L. Dennis Kozlowski

/s/ JACK L. HECKEL                     Director
-----------------------------
Jack L. Heckel

/s/ JOHN ZIEMNIAK                      Director
-----------------------------
John Ziemniak

/s/ JOHN J. MCDONOUGH                  Director
-----------------------------
John J. McDonough

/s/ GERALD MCGOEY                      Director
-----------------------------
Gerald McGoey

______________________
*Each of the above signatures is affixed as of October 10, 2000.

                                      S-1
<PAGE>

                                   APW Ltd.
                              (the "Registrant")
                           (Commission File No. 1-15851)

                                 EXHIBIT INDEX
                                      TO
                        FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Exhibit                                                       Incorporated Herein           Filed
Number                    Description                           By Reference To            Herewith
-------                   -----------                         -------------------          --------
<C>         <S>                                          <C>                               <C>
 4.1        Memorandum of Continuance of the             Exhibit 3.1 to the
            Registrant (dated as of May 30, 2000)        Registrant's
                                                         Amendment No. 2 to its
                                                         Registration Statement on
                                                         Form 10 (dated July 11, 2000)

 4.2        Bye-laws of the Registrant                   Exhibit 3.2 to the
                                                         Registrant's
                                                         Amendment No. 2 to its
                                                         Registration Statement on
                                                         Form 10 (dated July 11, 2000)

 4.3        Rights Agreement between APW Ltd.            Exhibit 4.1 to the
            and Firstar Bank, N.A. as Rights Agent       Registrant's
                                                         Amendment No. 1 to its
                                                         Registration Statement on
                                                         Form 10 (dated June 20,
                                                         2000)

 5          Opinion of Conyers Dill & Pearman                                                      X

23.1        Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers                                                      X
            LLP

23.2        Consent of Conyers Dill & Pearman                                              Contained in
                                                                                           Exhibit 5

24          Power of Attorney                                                              Contained in
                                                                                           Signatures page to
                                                                                           this Registration
                                                                                           Statement

99.1        APW Ltd. Employee Stock Purchase                                                       X
            Plan
</TABLE>

                                     EI-1
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "filename": "0001.txt", "description": "FORM S-8 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN", "secsgml_size_bytes": 19504}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "APW LTD", "cik": "0001111938", "assigned-sic": "5065", "irs-number": "042576375", "fiscal-year-end": "0831"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-47790", "film-number": "738678"}, "business-address": {"street1": "N22 W23685 RIDGEVIEW PKWY WEST", "city": "WAUKESHA", "state": "WI", "zip": "53188-1013", "phone": "2625237600"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "N22 W23685 RIDGEVIEW PKWY WEST", "city": "WAUKESHA", "state": "WI", "zip": "53188-1013"}}
Registration No. 333-______

  As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 11, 2000
================================================================================

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D.C. 20549

                                   FORM S-8

                            REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                     UNDER
                          THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                              __________________

                                   APW Ltd.
            (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                BERMUDA                               04-2576375
    (State or other jurisdiction of                (I.R.S. Employer
    incorporation or organization)                Identification No.)

   N22 W23685 Ridgeview Parkway West
          Waukesha, Wisconsin                         53188-1013
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)              (Zip Code)

                     APW Ltd. Employee Stock Purchase Plan
                            (Full title of the plan)
                              ___________________

           RICHARD D. CARROLL                          Copy to:
             Vice President                   ANTHONY W. ASMUTH III, ESQ.
                APW Ltd.                          Quarles & Brady LLP
    N22 W23685 Ridgeview Parkway West          411 East Wisconsin Avenue
     Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188-1013           Milwaukee, Wisconsin  53202

                    (Name and address of agent for service)

                                (262) 523-7600
         (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

                        Calculation of Registration Fee
===================================================================================================
                                                     Proposed          Proposed
                                                     Maximum           Maximum               Amount of
  Title of Securities          Amount to be       Offering Price       Aggregate           Registration
    to be Registered          Registered (1)      Per Share (2)      Offering Price (2)         Fee
    ----------------          --------------      --------------     ------------------    ------------
Common Stock,
par value $.01 per share     1,000,000 shares         $46.75             $46,750,000        $12,342.00
 (with attached Preferred
  Stock Purchase Rights)

===================================================================================================
(1)  Each share of common stock will have attached thereto one preferred stock
     purchase right issued pursuant to the registrant's Rights Agreement.

(2)  Pursuant to Rule 457(h), the maximum aggregate offering price, estimated
     solely for computing the registration fee, is based upon $46.75 per
     share, which is the average of the high and low sales prices of the
     registrant's common stock on the New York Stock Exchange Composite Tape on
     October 6, 2000 as reported in The Wall Street Journal. The value
     attributable to the preferred stock purchase rights is reflected in the
     price of the common stock.

================================================================================
PART I

             INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

          Information specified in Part I of Form S-8 (Items 1 and 2) will be
sent or given to Plan participants as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the
Securities Act of 1933.

                                    PART II

              INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.   Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

          The following documents filed by APW Ltd. (the "Registrant")
(Commission File No. 1-15851) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission") pursuant to Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended (the "1934 Act"), are incorporated herein by reference:

          (a)  The Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 10 dated May 1,
               2000 (as amended by Amendment No. 1 and Amendment No. 2 on Form
               10/A filed on June 20, 2000 and July 11, 2000, respectively);

          (b)  The Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on July
               19, 2000;

          (c)  The Registrant's Quarterly Report Form 10-Q filed on August
               17, 2000; and

          (d)  The Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K reporting an event
               occurring on September 26, 2000.

          All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the 1934 Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have
been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be
deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof from the
date of the filing of such documents.

          Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded
for purposes hereof to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any
other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated
by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded,
to constitute a part hereof.

Item 4.   Description of Securities.

          Not applicable. See Item 3 above.

Item 5.   Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

          The legality of the securities registered hereunder will be passed
upon for the Registrant by Conyers Dill & Pearman, the Registrant's legal
counsel. The Registrant's Assistant Secretaries, Wayne Morgan and I.S.
Outerbridge, are members of Codan Services Limited, an affiliated company of
Conyers Dill & Pearman.

                                       1
Item 6.   Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

          The bye-laws of APW Ltd. provide for indemnification of APW Ltd.'s
officers and directors against all liabilities, loss, damage or expense incurred
or suffered by any officer or director in his or her role as an officer or
director of APW Ltd. to the maximum extent permitted by Bermuda law. However,
the indemnification does not extend to any matter which would render it void
pursuant to the Companies Act 1981 as in effect from time to time in Bermuda.

          The Companies Act provides that a Bermuda company may indemnify its
officers and directors in respect of any loss arising or liability attaching to
them as a result of any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust
of which they may be guilty. A company is also permitted to indemnify any
officer or director against any liability incurred by him or her in defending
any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in which judgment is given in favor
of the director or officer, or in which he or she is acquitted, or in connection
with any application under relevant Bermuda legislation in which relief from
liability is granted to him or her by the court. However, the Companies Act also
states that any provision, whether contained in APW Ltd.'s bye-laws or in a
contract or arrangement between APW Ltd. and the director, indemnifying a
director against liability which would attach to him in respect of his or her
fraud or dishonesty will be void.

          The directors and officers of APW Ltd. are also covered by directors'
and officers' insurance policies maintained by APW Ltd.

Item 7.   Exemption From Registration Claimed.

          Not applicable.

Item 8.   Exhibits.

          See the Exhibit Index following the Signatures page in this
Registration Statement, which Exhibit Index is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.   Undertakings.

          (a)  The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

               (1)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                    (i)    To include any prospectus required by Section
                           10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

                    (ii)   To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
                           arising after the effective date of the Registration
                           Statement (or the most recent post-effective
                           amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
                           aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the
                           information set forth in the Registration Statement.
                           Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or
                           decrease in volume of securities offered (if the
                           total dollar value of securities offered would not
                           exceed that which was registered) and any deviation
                           from the low or high end of the estimated maximum
                           offering range may be reflected in the form of
                           prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule
                           424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume
                           and price represent no more than a 20% change in the
                           maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the
                           "Calculation of Registration Fee" table in the
                           effective Registration Statement;

                                       2
(iii)  To include any material information with respect to the
                      plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the
                      Registration Statement or any material change to such
                      information in the Registration Statement;

          Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of this
section do not apply if the Registration Statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8,
and the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by
those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed by the Registrant with
the Commission pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the Registration
Statement.

          (2)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be
a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

          (3)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

     (b)  The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the
Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an
employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     (h)  Reference is made to the indemnification provisions described in Item
6 of this Registration Statement.

          Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling
persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise,
the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and
Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed
in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in
the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent,
submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such
indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will
be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                       3
SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the Village of Pewaukee, State of Wisconsin, on October 10, 2000.

                                       APW Ltd.
                                       (Registrant)

                                       By:  /s/ RICHARD D. CARROLL
                                            ----------------------
                                            Richard D. Carroll
                                            Vice President - Finance

                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

     KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears
below constitutes and appoints Richard G. Sim and Richard D. Carroll, and each
of them, his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of
substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in
any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective
amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all
exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and any other regulatory authority, granting
unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary
to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he
might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said
attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them, or their substitutes, may lawfully
do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the date indicated.*

         Signature                     Title

/s/ RICHARD G. SIM                     Chairman of the Board, President and
-----------------------------          Chief Executive Officer; Director
Richard G. Sim

/s/ RICHARD D. CARROLL                 Vice President - Finance
-----------------------------          (Principal Financial Officer)
Richard D. Carroll

/s/ TODD ADAMS                         Controller
-----------------------------          (Principal Accounting Officer)
Todd Adams

/s/ PETER DOUGLAS                      Director
-----------------------------
Peter Douglas

/s/ L. DENNIS KOZLOWSKI                Director
-----------------------------
L. Dennis Kozlowski

/s/ JACK L. HECKEL                     Director
-----------------------------
Jack L. Heckel

/s/ JOHN ZIEMNIAK                      Director
-----------------------------
John Ziemniak

/s/ JOHN J. MCDONOUGH                  Director
-----------------------------
John J. McDonough

/s/ GERALD MCGOEY                      Director
-----------------------------
Gerald McGoey

______________________
*Each of the above signatures is affixed as of October 10, 2000.

                                      S-1
APW Ltd.
                              (the "Registrant")
                           (Commission File No. 1-15851)

                                 EXHIBIT INDEX
                                      TO
                        FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Exhibit                                                       Incorporated Herein           Filed
Number                    Description                           By Reference To            Herewith
-------                   -----------                         -------------------          --------
4.1        Memorandum of Continuance of the             Exhibit 3.1 to the
            Registrant (dated as of May 30, 2000)        Registrant's
                                                         Amendment No. 2 to its
                                                         Registration Statement on
                                                         Form 10 (dated July 11, 2000)

 4.2        Bye-laws of the Registrant                   Exhibit 3.2 to the
                                                         Registrant's
                                                         Amendment No. 2 to its
                                                         Registration Statement on
                                                         Form 10 (dated July 11, 2000)

 4.3        Rights Agreement between APW Ltd.            Exhibit 4.1 to the
            and Firstar Bank, N.A. as Rights Agent       Registrant's
                                                         Amendment No. 1 to its
                                                         Registration Statement on
                                                         Form 10 (dated June 20,
                                                         2000)

 5          Opinion of Conyers Dill & Pearman                                                      X

23.1        Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers                                                      X
            LLP

23.2        Consent of Conyers Dill & Pearman                                              Contained in
                                                                                           Exhibit 5

24          Power of Attorney                                                              Contained in
                                                                                           Signatures page to
                                                                                           this Registration
                                                                                           Statement

99.1        APW Ltd. Employee Stock Purchase                                                       X
            Plan
EI-1