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Hotpoint

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Hotpoint
IndustryHome appliances
Founded1911; 113 years ago (1911) in Ontario, California, United States
FounderEarl Richardson
ProductsWashing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, cookers, tumble dryers
OwnersAmericas: GE Appliances (Haier)[1]
Europe: Whirlpool
Websitehotpoint.com (Americas)
hotpoint.eu (Europe)
hotpoint.co.uk (United Kingdom)

Hotpoint is a brand of domestic appliances. Ownership of the brand is split between American company Whirlpool, which has the rights in Europe,[1] Chinese company Haier, which has the rights in the Americas and Turkish company Arcelik which has rights in Russia and the CIS.

History

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Pacific Electric Heating Company

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The company name Hotpoint comes from the hot point of the innovative first electric iron. Invented by American, Earl Richardson (1871–1934) in 1905, he subsequently formed his Pacific Electric Heating Co. in Ontario, California, in 1906.[2][3]

Edison General Electric Company

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Most Hotpoint production moved to GE's mammoth Appliance Park manufacturing complex in Louisville, Kentucky in the beginning of the 1950s. To this day, many Hotpoint appliances are made at Louisville, and as of 2013 was the largest appliance plant in the world.[4]

Indesit

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GEC was restructured into Marconi plc. from which Indesit Company (then called Merloni Elettrodomestici) took over and then Indesit was bought out by Hotpoint on 21 December 2001 for £121m.[5]

Whirlpool

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In October 2014, Whirlpool paid 56% of the purchased by for UK only marketing whilst Haier bought out 44% for US.[clarify][6]

Haier

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In September 2014, Electrolux agreed to buy General Electric's household appliances business including the Hotpoint brand in North America for £2bn ($3.3bn). The deal was expected to close in 2015.[7] Due to blockage by U.S. regulators, the Electrolux deal was terminated, and GE subsequently sold its appliance division to Haier of China, to close in 2016.[8]

Arcelik

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In 2022, Turkish white goods manufacturer Arcelik agreed to buy Whirpool's Russian arm including use of the Hotpoint brand. The deal included Whirlpool's sales operations in Kazakhstan and selected countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States. [9]

In January 2023, Arcelik and Whirpool agreed to combine their European business with Arcelik owning a 75% share. The new entity will own rights to the Hotpoint brand in Europe.[10] In February 2024, Britain's antitrust regulator provisionally cleared the deal. This followed approved by EU antitrust regulators in October 2023.[11]

Products

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Hotpoint was formed in 1911 in California and entered the British market in 1920. It is well known for its refrigerators and washing machines. The company, including sister brands Creda and Indesit, at one time produced the largest amount of kitchen appliances in the United Kingdom. The headquarters was in Woodston, Peterborough with about 1,500 people based there making fridges and freezers. The refrigeration plant closed in 2008.[12]

Grenfell Tower fire

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In June 2017, a Hotpoint FF175BP fridge freezer was found to have triggered the Grenfell Tower fire in London that killed 72 people.[13][14] A total of 64,000 units of the same model were manufactured between 2006 and 2009 by Indesit under the Hotpoint brand before moving over to Whirlpool.[15]

Customers who believed they own either the FF175BP or the FF175BG models have been advised to contact the company for further safety checks. According to the Hotpoint website: “We have been made aware that the recent fire at Grenfell Tower in West London may have originated in a Hotpoint branded fridge freezer, manufactured between March 2006 and July 2009, model numbers FF175BP (Polar White) and FF175BG (Graphite)".[16][17][13]

Manufacturing sites

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The former Hotpoint plant in Yate, which makes tumble dryers, is now the only plant in the United Kingdom still in operation. Most machines are now made in Italy and Poland as opposed to the United Kingdom. Hotpoint washing machines were formerly manufactured at a plant in Llandudno Junction, in Conwy County Borough, North Wales, United Kingdom. The site made around 800,000 washing machines in 2007, with about 1,000 employees.[18] It is now the North Wales base of the Senedd.[19]

Their refrigeration products, formerly manufactured at the Peterborough factory, now are made in Poland.[20] It has a distribution centre at Raunds.

Site closures

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Indesit UK's (former GDA) Creda plant in Blythe Bridge, Stoke-on-Trent closed in December 2007.[21] Closure of the manufacturing facilities at Peterborough followed in the end of 2008.[12]

The factory employed 305 workers.[22] The company blamed "continuing decline" in the market.[23]

Marketing

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In 2002, it had a 23% share of the white goods market in the United Kingdom.[5] The Holby City actress Lisa Faulkner starred in their 2010 Campaign for Cooking Confidence.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hotpoint customer support
  2. ^ "Earl H. Richardson". Harvard Business School. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  3. ^ "First Hotpoint iron" (PDF). Streamlined Irons. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  4. ^ Goldsberry, Clare (24 December 2013). "Appliance manufacturing returns to the U.S." plasticstoday.com. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Merloni Elettrodomestici completes GDA (Hotpoint) acquisition". Indesit Company. 8 March 2002. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Whirlpool Completes Purchase of Majority Interest in Hotpoint and Indesit". Whirlpool Corporation. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Electrolux buys General Electric's appliances unit for $3.3bn". BBC News. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  8. ^ "Haier Buying GE Appliance Unit". USA Today. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Whirlpool to exit Russia, take $300 mln-$400 mln hit in second quarter". Reuters. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Whirlpool partners Arcelik in Europe, quits MidEast and Africa". Reuters. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  11. ^ "UK competition watchdog clears Arcelik's European deal with Whirlpool". Reuters. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  12. ^ a b "A dark day for staff at the Hotpoint factory". Peterborough Evening Telegraph. 27 November 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  13. ^ a b Monaghan, Angela (23 June 2017). "Hotpoint tells customers to check fridge-freezers after Grenfell Tower fire". the Guardian.
  14. ^ "Grenfell Tower fire began in fridge-freezer". BBC News. 23 June 2017.
  15. ^ "Hotpoint CHAOS: Firm behind Grenfell Tower fire in SECOND scandal". 23 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Landlords urged to check white goods - RLA Campaigns and News Centre". 27 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  17. ^ Monaghan, Angela (27 June 2017). "Grenfell Tower fire: MP says public must be told to stop using Hotpoint model". the Guardian.
  18. ^ "Fears grow over Indesit factory in Wales". ERT Online. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  19. ^ "Final day for 302 Indesit workers". BBC News. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  20. ^ "Indesit lays off 400 and moves production to Poland and Turkey". Evertiq. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  21. ^ "Hundreds of cooker firm jobs lost". BBC News. 7 August 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  22. ^ "Indesit job losses 'major blow'". BBC News. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  23. ^ "305 jobs to go at Indesit factory". BBC News. 3 March 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  24. ^ "Hotpoint campaign for Cooking Confidence with Lisa Faulkner". Hotpoint. 5 November 2010. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
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