‘Forget Brexit, we need to ramp up manufacturing’
The country needs to make and buy British, the Leave-backing founder of Ebac tells Sophie Christie
‘If products are made in Britain, while they may be more expensive, the money stays in our economy and benefits us’
Brexit is insignificant. I’m not concerned at all. What’s important is that we ramp up manufacturing in this country, encourage more people to buy British goods, and keep money within our economy rather than boosting the coffers of China or Poland.”
John Elliott is the outspoken, Brexit-backing multi-millionaire businessman who in 1974 founded Ebac, a manufacturer in County Durham best known for its dehumidifiers and water coolers, and most recently washing machines. These were launched in 2016, making it the first time in almost a decade that a domestic washing machine rolled off a British production line.
The 74-year-old Geordie is a profound Eurosceptic, but doesn’t believe the European Union is the reason why Britain’s economy is flagging: “I’m against the bureaucracy of the EU – getting 28 countries to work together is a joke – but that is not the reason for our current situation.
“Look at Germany, its economy is thriving. We are buying too many products from overseas and not supporting British businesses.”
Elliott left school at 15 with no qualifications and joined an engineering firm as an apprentice. In his late 20s, he set himself up as a freelance sales engineer.
His big break came when, by chance, he met a man in a hotel who asked him to design an industrial humidifier. On his way home, he scribbled a design “on the back of a fag packet” and later received an order for 16 machines. This led him to set up his own company, with him as the sole employee. Today, the company turns over £15.3m and employs around 220 staff at its Bishop Auckland HQ.
In 2012, the company’s ownership was put into a trust to prevent its sale and to ensure profits were reinvested back into it. “We have always put our profits back into the business and I knew it had to go on without me,” says Elliott. “This was a way to protect it. I never thought of it as mine to sell.”
Despite its success over the past 44 years, Elliott believes the business needs to be less innovative and more process-driven in order to grow. “Trying to be opportunistic limits growth. We need to keep it simple, focus on our core products, and improve processes to scale things up.”
He references the time when in 2005 the business decided to move into the leisure industry by opening a luxury day spa in Leeds. “That was a crazy thing to do,” he adds. The septuagenarian is still very involved in the day-to-day running of the business, focusing on product development and marketing: “I try to limit myself to where I can have the biggest impact. I understand where my weaknesses lie.”
Ebac sells to about a dozen countries, with France, the UK and the US its biggest markets. Elliott believes the business will begin to export more water coolers to America in the coming years, and is vocal about the effect – or lack thereof – of Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. “Trump put a 25pc tariff on water coolers from China and it hasn’t made a difference. You just have to deal with it, and he is right to have a protectionist attitude. Protectionism is not a bad thing.”
Elliott is intensely passionate about British manufacturing and goods, and believes they hold the key to growth.
“If our economy was a company, we would be bankrupt. The Government is borrowing too much and not producing enough. We need to manufacture more, like Germany and Japan, and keep our money in the country. Buying cheap goods from China is short-termism.
“If products are made in Britain, while they might be more expensive to create and buy, the money stays within our economy and benefits all of us. China is eating our lunch.”
While Ebac is one of the world’s most successful makers of dehumidifiers and water coolers, it has come up against stiff competition from Chinese rivals in the past.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2014, Pamela Petty, Elliott’s daughter and the company’s former managing director, said the business “wasn’t in great shape” when she took over. “The floodgates had opened in China and cheaper, massproduced imports were coming into Europe. We took a hit,” she said.
As a result, Petty downsized the business “significantly” to cut costs and diversified into new revenue streams. But Elliott says there is a desire for British goods: “The Government should be encouraging British manufacturing, maximising output and investing in real British businesses. All of their time is being spent on Brexit negotiations, but we need to start looking inwards.”