Ebac chairman John Elliot says the company is now just days away from seeing washing machines roll off it’s Newton Aycliffe production line after what seems to us like a heap of delays.
Ebac has told the Northern Echo that it expects to launch its washing machines in September. 2016 we assume as they were supposed to have been out in the wild for, oh, two years we think.
Ebac says it has already made scores of machines to iron out production processes and issues with a defective part and it is now ready to ramp up manufacturing over the summer.
Founder of Ebac and current chairman John Elliott revealed it aims to have started full production by mid-July, with work operating “all in one shot” after more than 100,000 hours of testing.
It is reported that the project was hit by problems with a gasket, which have now been remedied, and Mr Elliott said officials are now turning their attention to marketing to secure orders.
He told The Northern Echo: “We had a problem with the gasket, which we have sorted out, and we are still testing and going through routines and meeting regulations.
“We have made products in batches but we are going to run it for real in about two weeks’ time.
“We have over-tested it really, but it is better to be that way.
“We will run it all in one shot, rather than small batches, making sure they are reliable.”
The Northern Echo previously reported Ebac had secured a deal to sell a selected range of models online through Currys, and Mr Elliott confirmed it was talking to interested parties to extend its reach.
He said: “We are trying to tie up retailers and that is going well; there’s tremendous enthusiasm about it.
“We are looking at independent retailers and the response so far has been very positive.
“We are taking our time and it’s going to be right.”
However, Mr Elliott said Ebac will not seek to take advantage of customers just because its washers will carry the Union flag of origin.
He added: “We do not expect people to pay more for buying British; they shouldn’t have to.
“If we make a smaller margin, so be it.
“It has got to be the right price.
“Buying British might swing someone but it not a reason to buy it; it’s got to be a good washing machine first and do the job.
“We are not going to hide behind the flag.”
The company’s washing machine production line was last year opened by the Duke of Kent.
So far, given that there are none of these machines in the field and, it’s a completely unknown quantity to us we really can’t tell people much about them other than what you’ve seen reported here and in other sources. However we have heard on the grapevine that service is to be carried out by JTM Contracts or 0800 Repair which means that feedback on the machines is likely to be limited, at least for a time.
We hope to get our hands on one and have a look and see what we make of it at some point.
How Ebac will fare in the highly competitive field of washing machines we can but wait and see, only time will tell but we wish them well with the venture. It would be great to see a good machine that we could actually recommend from the UK again.
