Numatic International

Numatic International Ltd (Founded as Numatic Engineering Limited) is a British manufacturer, primarily producing domestic, commercial and industrial cleaning and maintenance equipment for distribution worldwide.[3][4] It is one of the major producers of vacuum cleaners in the United Kingdom[4] and is best known for producing the popular and iconic Henry domestic vacuum cleaner and its related models, which are canister designs having human names and ”smiling face” appearances[4][5] (some of which have since been discontinued since their introduction).

Numatic International Ltd.
TypePrivate Limited Company
IndustryMajor appliance
Founded1969 (1969)
(As Numatic Engineering Limited)
FounderChris Duncan
Headquarters
Chard, Somerset
,
England, United Kingdom
Key people
Chris Duncan
(managing director)
Stuart Cochrane
(manufacturing manager)
ProductsVacuum cleaners and other cleaning equipment (Henry)
Revenue GB £137.4 million (2016)[1]
GB £10 million (2013)[1]
Number of employees
1,000 (2017)[2]
Websitenumatic.co.uk

The company was founded in 1969, and is still owned solely by Chris Duncan, who created the compact shape for the cleaner.[3] The concept of the smiling face, along with the Henry name and the various colours the vacuum cleaner comes in, were designed by Michael Walsh FCSD. The company owns a manufacturing facility which is located in Chard, Somerset in south-west England,[3][6] and four wholly owned international distributors located in the countries France, Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa.[7][8][9][10] As of 2017, the company employs over 1000 people and produces 4,500 units per day, over 40% of which are for exporting to other countries.[3][11]

Domestic vacuums (Henry)
Main articles: Henry (vacuum) and List of Henry vacuum cleaners
A Henry HVR200 and Hetty HET200

One of Numatic's most popular products is a canister vacuum cleaner known as Henry. It is easily distinguishable by the large smiling face on the front of the canister (the vacuum's hose forms its nose, and although the face was originally three stickers that had to be applied to the canister, this has since been superseded by a 3D clip-on face which has eyes and a mouth in the newer models). A new parking bracket was added in September 2012. Since the introduction of Henry in 1981, over 10 million have been produced worldwide. Henry, along with his female counterpart Hetty, now have merchandise based on them (such as plush toys and T-shirts). There are also Henry desktop cleaners for cleaning off desks and tables, which are neither made or sold by Numatic International, but by Paladone Products.[3] The Henry Vacuum is a well-respected machine that is becoming more and more treated like a human, with such events like Bring your Henry Hoover to Tesco.

Henry has numerous models, such as the Henry Cordless (which is run off chargeable batteries), the Henry Micro (which reduces exposure to allergens), and the Henry Xtra (which is made specifically for carpets and cleaning pet hair). Henry also has many variations of the name that is on the vacuum, such as Hetty (which is pink, has long eyelashes, and leans towards a female target market), Harry (which is green, was originally called Henry Hound, and leans towards pet owners), James (which was originally yellow, but its colour was changed to blue in 2019,[12] and has a caddy top), and many others. Henry is most prominent in the United Kingdom where it is manufactured, but it can be purchased in other countries. Since Henry's original release in 1981, a whole family of vacuum cleaners have been introduced in different sizes and colours with different specifications and uses (including a wet and dry model and a multi-functional wet/dry and carpet shampoo cleaner). All the original series, some of which have now been discontinued, are based on British names, such as Basil, Edward, Charles and George.

Numatic International has also made many vacuum cleaners differing from the 2010 range, many of which are no longer sold as of 2016. The Henry and Hetty vacuum cleaners have also gone beyond vacuum cleaners, as since 2010, they have expanded to desktop cleaners, toys, spray mops, boxes and office file holders (and a specially-made Airo-Brush head has also been made for them). When the Henry vacuum cleaner was first released in 1981, a consumer had a sticker placed on the Henry, which meant they had to register to the company for the insured life of the vacuum. Accessories for them include but are not limited to, stainless steel tubes, HepaFlo dust bags, an upholstery tool, a crevice tool, a Nuflex threaded hose, a double taper hose/full adapter, two 36-volt battery packs (which only apply to Henry and Hetty Cordless), a Numatic Airo-Brush Head with rotating bristles (only applying to Henry Xtra), a soft dusting brush and an upholstery nozzle with a sliding brush.

Commercial, industrial, and specialized products

As well as cylinder vacuum cleaners and carpet washers, Numatic International also offers a range of VersaCare products and systems. One of the most notable VersaCare systems is the VCN1404 Mini, which is an exceptionally compact surface module designed to be used where the primary objective is to clean and to be seen to be clean. This is the objective of virtually all of the VersaCare systems, including the VCN1804 All Terrain, which has been developed from the ground up, giving high priority to exceptional mobility, constructional integrity and usability, with numerous optional facilities able to be added to extend the scope of the product for meeting different requirements.

References
  1. Philip Beresford Sunday (26 October 2014). "Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2014: No. 96 – Christopher Duncan, Numatic".
  2. https://www.reed.co.uk/company-profile/numatic-international-ltd-47978
  3. Ian Jack, The Guardian, 24 July 2010, Can manufacturing fill Britain's economic vacuum?
  4. "BBC – West Country Cash: Made in Chard: The Somerset factory keeping it local". Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  5. "Numatic boss praises staff after receiving award". Chard & Ilminster News. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  6. "Why "Brand Somerset" adds value for business". Western Morning News. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  7. LUNICREA. "Fabrication et la commercialisation de matériel d'aspiration et de nettoyag". numatic.fr (in French). Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  8. "Geschichte – Numatic". Numatic (in German). Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  9. "Geschiedenis". numatic.nl. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  10. www.vaimo.com, Vaimo -. "Numatic History". numatic.co.za. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  11. Interactive, Haymarket Business. "Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2014: No. 96 = Christopher Duncan, Numatic". managementtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  12. Numatic International Ltd. "James JVP180". Retrieved 25 April 2019.
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