Editing Hotpoint

{{Short description|Brand of domestic appliances}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Hotpoint
| logo = Logo hotpoint.png
| type = 
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1911}} in [[Ontario, California|Ontario]], [[California]], United States
| founder = Earl Richardson
| location = 
| location_city = 
| location_country = 
| key_people = 
| area_served = 
| industry = [[Home appliance]]s
| products = [[Washing machine]]s, [[dishwasher]]s, [[refrigerator]]s, [[Refrigerator#Freezer|freezer]]s, [[cooker]]s, [[Clothes dryer|tumble dryer]]s
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = 
| owners = Americas: [[GE Appliances]] ([[Haier]])<ref name=support>[https://www.hotpoint.com/appliance-support/europe.html Hotpoint customer support]</ref> <br /> Europe: [[Beko Europe|Beko Europe]]
| subsid = 
| homepage = {{URL|hotpoint.com}} (Americas) <br /> {{URL|hotpoint.eu}} (Europe)
<br /> {{URL|hotpoint.co.uk}} (United Kingdom)
| footnotes = 
}}

'''Hotpoint''' is a brand of [[major appliance|domestic appliances]]. Ownership of the brand is split between Beko Europe (owned by [[Koç Holding|Koç Holdings]]) which has the rights in [[Europe]],<ref name=support/> and Chinese company [[Haier]], which has brand rights in the [[Americas]].

==History==

=== Pacific Electric Heating Company ===
The company name Hotpoint comes from the ''hot point'' of the innovative first [[Iron (appliance)|electric iron]].  Invented by American, Earl Richardson (''1871–1934'') in 1905, he subsequently formed his Pacific Electric Heating Co. in [[Ontario, California|Ontario]], California, in 1906.<ref>{{cite news|title=Earl H. Richardson|publisher=Harvard Business School|url=http://www.hbs.edu/leadership/database/leaders/earl_h_richardson.html|access-date=8 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=First Hotpoint iron|publisher=Streamlined Irons|url=http://streamlinedirons.com/pages/Irons%2018.pdf|access-date=8 February 2011|archive-date=16 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716153538/http://streamlinedirons.com/pages/Irons%2018.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The device became known as the Hotpoint iron, with its hottest point at the front and not the center.

=== Hotpoint ===
Hotpoint was founded in 1911 by Earl Richardson.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

=== Hotpoint Electric Heating Company ===
In 1912, the company began making electric irons, and in 1919, [[electric cooker]]s in the United States. Earl Richardson also invented the first iron that switched off automatically when a maximum temperature was reached.[[File:Hotpointsign.JPG|right|thumb|Hotpoint sign in Great Barrington, Massachusetts]]

It is claimed to have developed one of the earliest electric toasters in 1908, known as the ''El Tosto'', and later, under GE, the Hotpoint brand name became one of the most popular brands of toasters in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. Richardson founded his settlement, [[Adelanto, California|Adelanto]], California, in 1915.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

=== Edison Electric Appliance Company ===
In 1918, the company, known as the Hotpoint Electric Heating Co., merged with the Heating Device Section of [[General Electric]], becoming the Edison Electric Appliance Co.

=== Hotpoint Electric Appliance Company ===
In 1920, it established a joint venture with competitor [[General Electric]], forming the Hotpoint Electric Appliance Co. Limited (HEAC) to market GE (USA) branded goods in the United Kingdom.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

=== Edison General Electric Company ===
In 1927, GE bought the factory and entire company. It became known as the Edison General Electric Co. in 1931.

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|lc=y}} was the largest appliance plant in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.plasticstoday.com/appliance-manufacturing-returns-us |title=Appliance manufacturing returns to the U.S. |last=Goldsberry |first=Clare |date=2013-12-24 |website=plasticstoday.com |access-date=2023-08-09}}</ref>

===GEC===
In 1929, HEAC joined the [[Associated Electrical Industries]] (AEI) group, itself bought by [[The General Electric Company]] in 1967. By the 1960s it was the market leader in household electrical appliances in the United Kingdom, followed by Sweden's [[Electrolux]].

=== GDA ===
Hotpoint continued as a subsidiary of GEC until 1989, when it was merged into a new division of GEC called General Domestic Appliances (GDA).  50% of GDA was purchased by General Electric (USA), with whom it owned the joint venture. In 1998, the Redring and Xpelair brands also joined GDA, and Hotpoint was categorized as part of GDA Applied Energy.

===Indesit===
GEC was restructured into [[Marconi plc]]. from which [[Indesit|Indesit Company]] (''then called Merloni Elettrodomestici'') took over and then Indesit was bought out by Hotpoint on 21 December 2001 for £121m.<ref name="Merloni GDA (Hotpoint) acquisition">{{cite news | url=http://www.indesitcompany.com/inst/en/press_room/press-releases-detail.action?id=213 | publisher=Indesit Company | title=Merloni Elettrodomestici completes GDA (Hotpoint) acquisition | date=8 March 2002 | access-date=9 December 2015 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104130/http://www.indesitcompany.com/inst/en/press_room/press-releases-detail.action?id=213 | url-status=dead }}</ref>  At this point, Hotpoint employed around 7,000 people at its four sites in the United Kingdom, three of which later closed. Indesit UK has been based at Hotpoint headquarters in [[Cambridgeshire|Peterborough]] since 1 June 2003.
In 2005, Merloni Elettrodomestici rebranded to become Indesit Company.

At the beginning of 2007, Indesit launched the group's new brand architecture, Hotpoint, and combined with Ariston to form the Hotpoint-Ariston brand.
 
In December 2008, Indesit acquired the final quota of shares from General Electric for US$57m.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.indesitcompany.com/inst/en/investor/comunicati_finanziari/comunicati-finanziari-detail.action?id=1199 | publisher=Indesit Company | title=Indesit Company acquires final GDA (Hotpoint) quota from General Electric | date=23 December 2008 | access-date=26 December 2008 | archive-date=1 December 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201211150/http://www.indesitcompany.com/inst/en/investor/comunicati_finanziari/comunicati-finanziari-detail.action?id=1199 | url-status=dead }}</ref> From the end of 2011, Indesit rolled out the Hotpoint brand name across Europe, replacing the names Ariston and Hotpoint Ariston.

=== Whirlpool ===
In October 2014, {{clarify span|Whirlpool paid 56% of the purchased by for UK only marketing whilst Haier bought out 44% for US. |explain=This is just word salad|date=December 2022}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/whirlpool-completes-purchase-of-majority-interest-in-indesit/ | publisher=Whirlpool Corporation | title=Whirlpool Completes Purchase of Majority Interest in Hotpoint and Indesit. | date=14 October 2014 | access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref> [[Whirlpool Corporation|Whirlpool]]'s had a turbulent ownership of Hotpoint and Indesit as in 2015, Indesit released a statement announcing a safety alert for certain models of tumble dryers produced between 2004 and 2015 due to a design flaw which caused large particles of lint to escape the fluff filter into the dryer and build up around the heating element bank which posed a risk of fire. In 2016, Whirlpool began sending out engineers to perform safety modifications to the recalled dryers. In July 2019, Whirlpool finally issued a recall for the appliances, stating that up to 800,000 machines would either be replaced or repaired.

In December 2019, Whirlpool announced a safety recall for certain models of Hotpoint and Indesit washing machines manufactured between 2014 and 2018, due to faulty door interlocks that could cause the machines to catch fire.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-12-17 |title=Whirlpool washing machine danger revealed as recall launched |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50811686 |access-date=2025-05-13 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Haier ===
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.<ref>{{cite news|date=8 September 2014|title=Electrolux buys General Electric's appliances unit for $3.3bn|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29106335|access-date=8 September 2014}}</ref>  Due to blockage by U.S. regulators, the Electrolux deal was terminated, and GE subsequently sold its appliance division to [[Haier]] of [[People's Republic of China|China]], to close in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|date=15 January 2016|title=Haier Buying GE Appliance Unit|work=[[USA Today]]|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2016/01/15/haier-buying-ge-appliance-unit/78836088/|access-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

===Arcelik ===
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]]. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Whirlpool to exit Russia, take $300 mln-$400 mln hit in second quarter |website=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/whirlpool-exit-russia-take-300-mln-400-mln-hit-second-quarter-2022-06-28/ |access-date=2024-02-19}}</ref> 

In January 2023, Arcelik and Whirlpool agreed to combine their European business with Arcelik owning a 75% share. The new entity will own rights to the Hotpoint brand in Europe.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-01-17 |title=Whirlpool partners Arcelik in Europe, quits MidEast and Africa |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/whirlpool-partners-arcelik-europe-quits-mideast-africa-2023-01-17/ |access-date=2024-02-19 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>
In February 2024, Britain's antitrust regulator provisionally cleared the deal. This followed approved by EU antitrust regulators in October 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-02-08 |title=UK competition watchdog clears Arcelik's European deal with Whirlpool |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-competition-watchdog-clears-arceliks-european-deal-with-whirlpool-2024-02-08/ |access-date=2024-02-19 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>
==Products==
Hotpoint was formed in 1911 in [[California]] and entered the British market in 1920. It is well known for its refrigerators and [[washing machine]]s. 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.<ref name="Peterborough Closure">{{cite news | url=http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/latest-news/a-dark-day-for-staff-at-the-hotpoint-factory-1-120644 | newspaper=Peterborough Evening Telegraph | title=A dark day for staff at the Hotpoint factory | date=27 November 2008 | access-date=26 December 2008 | archive-date=8 December 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208095033/http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/latest-news/a-dark-day-for-staff-at-the-hotpoint-factory-1-120644 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Grenfell Tower fire==
{{undue weight section|date=August 2024}}
In June 2017, a Hotpoint FF175BP fridge freezer was found to have triggered the [[Grenfell Tower fire]] in London that killed 72 people.<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/23/hotpoint-tells-customers-to-check-fridge-freezers-after-grenfell-tower-fire|title=Hotpoint tells customers to check fridge-freezers after Grenfell Tower fire|first=Angela|last=Monaghan|date=23 June 2017|website=the Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40380584|title=Grenfell Tower fire began in fridge-freezer|work=BBC News |date=23 June 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/624695/Grenfell-Tower-fire-hotpoint-fridge-freezer-Whirlpoint-Indesit-police-government|title=Hotpoint CHAOS: Firm behind Grenfell Tower fire in SECOND scandal|date=23 June 2017}}</ref>

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)".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.rla.org.uk/landlords-urged-check-white-goods|title=Landlords urged to check white goods - RLA Campaigns and News Centre|date=27 June 2017|access-date=27 June 2017|archive-date=25 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225062325/https://news.rla.org.uk/landlords-urged-check-white-goods/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/27/grenfell-tower-fire-hotpoint-fridge-freezer-mp-andy-slaughter|title=Grenfell Tower fire: MP says public must be told to stop using Hotpoint model|first=Angela|last=Monaghan|date=27 June 2017|website=the Guardian}}</ref><ref name="theguardian.com"/>

In October 2018, Whirlpool notified customers that they did not find anything that posed a risk to the customers, and claimed that the [[London Fire Brigade]]’s investigation into the cause of the fire had found that some electrical cabling ''behind'' the fridge freezer, or an incorrectly discarded cigarette on the kitchen window may have started the fire. In fact, the investigation found that the fire had been started by a fault with the wiring of the Hotpoint fridge-freezer itself.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-11-27 |title=Grenfell Tower inquiry: Expert says faulty electrical connection started blaze |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46363830 |access-date=2025-01-30 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RPBBvh_od8&t=6863s |title=Expert Evidence - Dr Glover (27 November 2018 Pt 1 of 2) |date=2018-11-27 |last=Grenfell Tower Inquiry |access-date=2025-01-30 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-06-23 |title=Grenfell Tower: Fire started in Hotpoint fridge-freezer, say police |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40380584 |access-date=2025-01-30 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Manufacturing sites==
The last remaining Hotpoint manufacturing site in operation in the UK, the [[Yate]] plant, was closed on 31 December 2024 after 104 years of operation. All appliances are now made in Italy and Poland as well as Turkey 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.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://ertonline.co.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-05nnew29i.RefLocID-05n04600f.Lang-EN.htm | publisher=ERT Online | title=Fears grow over Indesit factory in Wales | date=12 February 2009 | access-date=2 December 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202013531/http://ertonline.co.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-05nnew29i.RefLocID-05n04600f.Lang-EN.htm | archive-date=2 December 2015 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> It is now the North Wales base of the [[Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament|Senedd]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8174551.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=Final day for 302 Indesit workers | date=30 July 2009 | access-date=2 December 2015}}</ref>

Their refrigeration products, formerly manufactured at the Peterborough factory, now are made in Poland.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://evertiq.com/news/11217 | publisher=Evertiq | title=Indesit lays off 400 and moves production to Poland and Turkey| date=21 May 2008 | access-date=2 December 2015}}</ref> It has a distribution centre at [[Raunds]].

===Site closures===
Indesit UK's (former GDA) Creda plant in [[Blythe Bridge]], [[Stoke-on-Trent]] closed in December 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/6934787.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=Hundreds of cooker firm jobs lost | date=7 August 2007 | access-date=2 December 2015}}</ref> Closure of the manufacturing facilities at Peterborough followed in the end of 2008.<ref name="Peterborough Closure"/>  On 31 July 2009, Indesit closed its plant at Kinmel Park, [[Bodelwyddan]] [[Denbighshire]], [[Wales]], United Kingdom.

The factory employed 305 workers.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7922445.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=Indesit job losses 'major blow' | date=4 March 2009 | access-date=2 December 2015}}</ref> The company blamed "continuing decline" in the market.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7921557.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=305 jobs to go at Indesit factory | date=3 March 2009 | access-date=1 December 2015}}</ref> 

In October 2024, Beko Europe confirmed that the manufacturing site at Yate, the only one to still be producing tumble dryers in the UK was to cease manufacturing and close on 31 December that same year, after 104 years of operation, this resulted in a total of 142 people being made redundant.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Limbu |first1=Dawn |last2=Pollard |first2=Ross |title=Yate Hotpoint factory a 'loss for the community', say residents |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq6lgely8m0o |access-date=29 March 2025 |work=BBC News, West of England |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=31 October 2024}}</ref> 

With the closure of this site, it brings an end to Tumble Dryer production in the UK. Beko Europe claimed that the site "had been operating at a loss for some time, despite continued investment." They blamed this on declining sales of tumble dryers in the UK, as well as people moving to using more efficient machines in an effort to reduce running costs.

===United States===
In the United States, Hotpoint branded products are made by [[GE Consumer & Industrial|Haier]] at Louisville, Kentucky.

==Marketing==
In 2002, it had a 23% share of the [[Major appliance|white goods]] market in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Merloni GDA (Hotpoint) acquisition"/> The ''Holby City'' actress [[Lisa Faulkner]] starred in their 2010 ''Campaign for Cooking Confidence''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hotpoint.co.uk/hotpoint/cooking_newstyle/cookingconfidence.html |title=Hotpoint campaign for Cooking Confidence with Lisa Faulkner |publisher=Hotpoint |date=5 November 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320004823/http://www.hotpoint.co.uk/hotpoint/cooking_newstyle/cookingconfidence.html |archive-date=20 March 2012 |access-date=16 January 2015}}</ref>

In 2009, it worked with [[Kelly Hoppen]] to produce its [[interior design]] ''Hot Style'' campaign. The company has also worked in conjunction with the P&G detergent brand [[Ariel (laundry)|Ariel]]. It currently recommends Ariel. Before 2004, Hotpoint recommended Unilever brands; Persil & Comfort. In the past it has also recommended Glist dishwasher tablets.

Actress [[Mary Tyler Moore]] appeared in a series of 1950s television commercials for the company as a character called "Happy Hotpoint", prior to her fame in television comedy series during the next two decades.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.hotpoint.com Official website (Americas)]
* [http://www.hotpoint.eu Official website (Europe)] 
* [http://www.hotpoint.co.uk Official website (UK)]

===News items===
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/7403375.stm Closing Peterborough fridge plant in May 2008]
* [http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/business-news/2007/12/13/bodelwyddan-factory-jobs-axed-55578-20242102/ Welsh factory in December 2007]

===Video clips===
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/Hotpoint Hotpoint YouTube channel]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FV6gjlOz9w Aquarius Ultra Persil advert]

{{Haier}}
{{Home appliance brands}}

[[Category:General Electric Company]]
[[Category:Haier]]
[[Category:Indesit Company]]
[[Category:Companies based in Peterborough]]
[[Category:Electronics companies established in 1911]]
[[Category:Home appliance brands]]
[[Category:Home appliance manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1911 establishments in California]]