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British made washer for talented County Durham eight year old after competition win

ByEmily

Oct 8, 2016

Ebac has presented one of the first washing machines to be produced in the UK for decades to a local family after their eight-year old daughter won a design competition.

Holly Metcalfe’s underwater-based design impressed the judging panel from Ebac and Artichoke, the charity which produces the Durham Lumiere festival.

The Metcalfe family are now proud owners of an Ebac Ecare+ Cold Fill Washing Machine, and a dummy model featuring Holly’s winning design, as a reminder of her creativity and achievement.

Ebac was the ‘family partner’ of the Lumiere event and collaborated with Artichoke to launch the competition, which tasked children living in the North East, aged between 4 and 11 years old, to design a washing machine – ahead of the company’s anticipated product launch.

In September, the first UK-made washing machines rolled off the production line at its Newton Aycliffe base. The line was developed with support from a £1m Regional Growth Fund (RGF) grant from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and a £6m investment by Ebac.

Holly, who lives in Etherley Dene, said: “I looked for pictures online of what was going to be on show at Lumiere and then used the ideas from that, I didn’t think anyone else would be doing that.’

Lianne Metcalfe, Holly’s mother added: “We’re delighted that Holly’s design was chosen as the competition winner and even more pleased that we now have one of Ebac’s British-made washing machines in our kitchen.”

Tony Hird, Sales and Marketing Director at Ebac, said: “Lumiere is a magnificent event for County Durham and we were delighted to be involved in the festivities as one of its main partners. We are extremely proud to have launched the first British-made washing machines for decades and to mark the momentous occasion by presenting Holly and her family with one of our first models.

“It was difficult to choose a winner as the volume of entries were all to a very high standard, but Holly was a worthy winner and should be proud of her creativity and excellent design.”

By Emily