Member Article

Manufacturer’s £6m cash injection

A £6m investment by a North-East based manufacturing company should see washing machines produced in the UK by next year.

Amanda Hird, Operations Director of Ebac, in Newton Aycliffe, Durham, spoke about the exciting plans at the October meeting of the Advanced Manufacturers Forum (AMF).

Ebac specialises in making dehumidifiers and water coolers, but has ambitious plans to include washing machines to its repertoire - which should see the company double its turnover.

Entrepreneurs at the AMF event, which was held at Ebac’s headquarters, heard that there are around three million washing machines purchased in Britain every year, all of which are manufactured abroad.

The move by Ebac will bring a welcome boost to the UK’s manufacturing market, putting the North East on the map.

Amanda, the youngest daughter of Ebac chairman and founder John Elliott, said: “Washing machines and washing machine technology wasn’t an area of expertise for us, so we sub-contracted the best company possible to do work with us on this.

“In the last week of the testing, in the summer of this year, we identified a small problem which we weren’t happy about.

“We looked at the risk and decided that we couldn’t afford to launch a product that could potentially have a problem. We wanted everything to be right.

“So, we have redesigned one of the components, for which a prototype will be ready by January for rigorous testing.

“We should be on course to launch our washing machines in the Spring of next year.”

Amanda added: “The kitchen appliance industry in Britain has seen a decline in manufacturing as most major brands have now moved production to Europe.

“There are three million washing machines bought in the UK every year – all of them are from abroad.

“One of our USPs is British manufacturing so this is very important to us and something we feel passionately about.”

Amanda also spoke of Ebac’s pride in the development of its Dual Fill washing machine technology, which will offer faster washes and lower running costs as an alternative to traditional cold fill machines.

She and her team then led AMF members on a tour of the factory, to see first hand how their products are produced.

Ian Fawdon, chairman of the AMF which represents manufacturers from around the North East, said: “Ebac products continue to be designed and manufactured in Newton Aycliffe which is great news for the area, in a time when so many products and services are being transferred overseas.

“We saw the quality work that goes on during an impressive tour of the Ebac factory floor, with detailed explanations at various points of the production process.

“We thank Ebac for hosting the October meeting of the AMF and are sure that members took away tips and ideas on best practice for their own companies.”

Ebac has been manufacturing in Britain since the 1970s, growing from a one-man operation based in a garage to its current 350,000 sq ft facilities and a 200-strong workforce.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Felicity Collinson .