Henry (vacuum)
Henry (also known as Henry Hoover) is the brand name given to a canister vacuum cleaner made and sold by Numatic International, and is the only mass-produced consumer vacuum cleaner still made in Britain. It is most notable for its cartoon eyes and mouth on the body of the vacuum cleaner, making a face, with the hose connector or hose as nose. The vacuum cleaner has several variations, including different names on the cap (including Hetty, Harry and James) as well as different models designed for different applications. The model was introduced in 1981, continues in production , and sells well, but Numatic never advertises Henry and retains no PR agency. History. Chris Duncan launched Numatic in 1969, having seen a need for a rugged and reliable cleaner to clean the inside of boilers. He started with an oil drum, found a washing-up bowl that fitted on top, and ordered 5,000. The prototype is in the Numatic museum. The two-inch oil drum thread is still used for the Henry models' nose. One evening during a trade show in the mid-1970s, Duncan and a salesman, bored, dressed up one of their current commercial cleaners with ribbon, a  union flag badge, and something like a hat, then chalked a crude smile under the hose connector. The next day visitors noticed it and laughed; Duncan then decided to ask his advertising people to design a proper face; they nicknamed the result "Henry". At another trade show a children's hospital was interested in the cleaners to encourage the recovering children to help with the cleaning. Production, still focussed on the commercial market, was increased. In 1981 "Henry" became the first Numatic International model to have a name on its cap. Henry was also one of the first vacuums to  use large-capacity microfibre dust bags known as HEPA-FLO bags, made of a material that retains dust and is stronger than the paper usually used, which can tear. Bored office cleaners were talking to Henry in night shifts. From then sales took off. While Numatic are careful never to use the trade name, Henry was often informally called, alliteratively, the "Henry hoover". Duncan commented "We turned an inanimate object into an animate object". Since the introduction of Henry in 1981, at least 10 million units had been sold worldwide by 2017. In 2021 sales were increasing by a million  units per year. Henry's face was originally printed on the body, but in some markets a face is considered dangerous as it may encourage children to play with the device (although there have been no incidents), so it is now printed on a separate faceplate, installed in the factory for countries without restrictions, otherwise, to be attached by the buyer. In 2014, still the company's sole owner, Duncan was listed at #96 on "Management Today"'s "Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs", and was said to have a worth of £103 million, estimated to have increased to about  £150m in 2021. Numatic International also manufacture spray mops, sold under the Henry and Hetty brands as "Henry Spray Mop" and "Hetty Spray Mop". Henrys were originally manufactured in Beaminster, Dorset, until Numatic moved production in 1990 to Chard, Somerset. Originally the components were manufactured by subcontractors and assembled by Numatic, but the company later began to manufacture most of its own components. Numatic now only sources components manufactured in the United Kingdom, which it advertises as part of its marketing. Model. Names. The vacuums are also available with different names, which are shown on their caps. All  the original series are based on English names. Vacuums with different names are generally of different colours and for different applications. Their faces remain identical on all models, except for Hetty, which has long eyelashes. Depending on the size of the head or body, the distance between the eyes and mouth can vary (excluding earlier models, as the faces were originally three stickers applied to the vacuums by hand). Some Henry models with faces, such as the NBV190, are marked "Numatic" instead of "Henry" on the cap. Some Numatic cleaners, such as the WV370, while of similar appearance to the  Henrys have no face and no personal name on their caps. A very few models have other words on their caps, such as "Micro-filter" on the MFQ370.