Henry superfan, 8, shows off vacuum collection

17 hours ago

Bea Swallow,West of Englandand

Alice Bouverie,West of England

News image — Ted was one of the very first customers to receive the anniversary collectors' item

BBC A young boy standing in between two people dressed up as Hetty and Henry vacuum cleaners. He has red hair and is wearing a red hoodie with Henry eyes on the chest. He is also holding a collectors edition of the cleaner. — Ted was one of the very first customers to receive the anniversary collectors' item

An eight-year-old Henry vacuum cleaner superfan has been gifted a limited edition model in honour of the company's 45th anniversary.

Ted, from Melksham in Wiltshire, has amassed a collection of 35 Henrys since his "hyper-fixation" began three years ago, with the oldest dating back to 1989.

He was presented with one of only 1,000 special edition vacuums during a tour of the Numatic International factory in Chard, Somerset, to mark National Manufacturing Day earlier.

Ted, who uses a different vacuum to clean everyday, said: "I like to use all of them in the house, not just the broken ones."

His obsession began aged five when his father, Matt, asked him to wipe down their Hetty vacuum cleaner to remove the dust and keep him busy.

When he realised his school kept a Henry for each cleaner, Ted began asking to help tidy up.

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"The school saw this as an opportunity to teach life skills to the children and provided Ted with his own for incentive," said his mother, Lisa.

"Being well-behaved and completing schoolwork results in vacuum time at the end of the school day.

"Ted was independently educating his schoolmates on what tool is used for what, how to tell what model a vacuum is and what date the vacuum was made on."

Lisa said Ted undertakes daily "mess tests" to ensure his vacuums are in good working order.

"It's like his favourite thing of the day," she added.

A young boy standing at a table full of red Henry vacuum cleaners. He has red short hair and is wearing a red hoodie with Henry eyes on the chest. — Ted uses his Henrys daily and undertakes 'mess tests' to ensure they are in good working order

Henry first rolled off the production line in 1981.

Today, one million Henrys are made every year at the manufacturing site - equivalent to one every 30 seconds.

The limited edition vacuum to mark the anniversary features an automated arm neatly placing the 'y' into Henry's name, alongside a black and white Union Jack surrounded by the words 'Made in the UK'.

The milestone also coincides with the 130th anniversary of Make UK – the premier trade body for manufacturers and engineering companies.

Regional director Fiona McGarr said the launch of the special edition machine was a "fitting way to celebrate the enduring strength of manufacturing in the UK".

"Henry is a product that generations of young people will have seen at home, in schools, hotels and other places in their everyday lives," she added.

Numatic International A limited edition Henry being manufactured on the production line. The red base, which has the iconic smiley face and big eyes, is sitting on a metal plate below a machine, where an electronic yellow arm is lowering the black lid onto the base. — The company said one Henry vacuum cleaner is made every 30 seconds, despite involving 75 individually crafted parts

The manufacturer recently spent £85m to expand the factory which employs 1,200 staff.

However, it confirmed a "small number" of staff had been made redundant at the factory after offers of alternative roles had been declined.

The company said it remained "firmly committed" to manufacturing in Chard, with continued investment and ongoing expansion of its manufacturing facilities.

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