Pamela Petty, Managing Director of Ebac, invited Newton News to see the progress made on re-introducing the manufacture of washing machines to Great Britain.
Pamela, daughter of John Elliott, has the same ambition and entrepreneurial spirit of her father and is pushing Ebac into a league of its own. Known worldwide for its dehumidifiers, Ebac recently moved into refrigeration and then made the brave decision to produce a British washing machine which will be in the shops next year.
There is a real buzz and sense of excitement around Ebac and this move will bring around 200 extra jobs. Already the company has received lots of consumer support with everyone wishing them well and enquiries already indicating there will be a big demand for the new machines.
Ebac first embarked on comprehensive market research, to understand how users will interface with their washing machines and do their laundry, even asking the general public to make suggestions on the completed design. This led to over 12000 hours of research activity and over 5000 consumer inputs through activities such as ‘build your own washer’ website (this was a first of its kind), focus groups and questionnaires.
It all started to become real as the £7m investment in machinery and equipment arrived at the factory this month with the remaining large press machines being delivered this week.
The only British washing machine line is to be installed, set up and commissioned during November with the first production run at the end of month and the first 100 machines completed.
Everything will be produced in-house along with the assembly which will include all the plastic parts, the stainless steel inner drum and external body cabinet.
The new machines will be simple to use and offer practical features such as simple (no jargon) wash programmes, dual ‘hot’ fill, large door and porthole, simple push filter access as well as modern LCD touchscreen technology. Users will benefit from easier to use machines that save time and money with excellent cleaning performance. There will be a range of models and prices which compare favourably with existing models.
Darren Feasey, Senior Product Manager has 15 years experience in marketing in the UK and abroad. He is working on the launch campaign creating all marketing tools for the big day in the Spring of 2015. Darren is a Durham lad, married with a young family who sees a great future for Ebac.
He told Newton News: “It’s great to be bringing white goods manufacturing back to the UK and to be creating more jobs for local people. This year already Ebac has employed 46 new starters across all products”.
The future is bright for Ebac and Newton News congratulates this family business for its enterprise and confidence in Newton Aycliffe, the North East and Great Britain.
View the video interview with Pamela and Darren at https://www.newtonnews.co.uk/newton-news-videos
