Rolls Razor Limited was a British company which became famous for its "affordable" twin-tub washing machine for a few years up until 1964. It was the first company to challenge the hegemony of Hoover and Hotpoint in this market. The eponymous product was a sophisticated safety-razor which came in a metal box designed to allow the blade to be stropped against the lid. The company wilted in the face of competition from the likes of Gillette, and in the mid-1950s, the effectively moribund shell was bought by entrepreneur John Bloom as a vehicle for marketing his washing machines. Initially, the product and the company were successful. On the back of a heavy advertising campaign, many customers were buying machines, particularly on hire purchase, which became available to many more consumers at this time as the British government relaxed many restrictions on this type of finance. In 1962, Rolls merged with the Colston company, founded by ex-Hoover director Sir Charles Colston, which made compact dishwashers, and concluded a deal to distribute Prestcold refrigerators. The company went bankrupt in 1964, spurred on by a reputation for an unreliable product. Production of the machines was continued by Tallent, but that company was taken over by Ariston in the late 1970s. Bloom came in for heavy criticism regarding his business practises and, indeed, his honesty. Front-loading washing machine. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Hoover Company logo, originally designed by Henry Dreyfuss The Hoover Company is an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. ... The General Electric Company, or GE, (NYSE: GE) is a multinational technology and services company. ... Collection of Modern Safety Razors - Gillette Fusion Power, Gillette M3Power, Mach3 Turbo Champion, Schick Quattro Chrome, Schick Quattro Power, Gillette Mach3, Gillette Sensor, Schick Xtreme3, Schick Xtreme SubZero, and Schick Xtreme3 Disposables A razor is an edge tool primarily used in shaving. ... Global Gillette is a business unit of Procter & Gamble. ... For the computer game previously called Entrepreneur, see The Corporate Machine. ... John Bloom was a British entrepreneur who headed the Rolls Razor company in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ... Hire purchase (frequently abbreviated to HP) is the legal term for a conditional sale contract developed in the United Kingdom, and now found in India, Australia, New Zealand, and other states which have adopted the English law concept. ... Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses, and organizations raise, allocate, and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... A Dishwasher A two drawer DishDrawer dishwasher. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of a individuals or organizations to pay their...

• In 1963, Rolls-Prestcold became the first commercial sponsor of The Royal Windsor Horse Show.
• It was the respondent company in a House of Lords decision called Barclays Bank Ltd v Quistclose Investments. This was a landmark case which created the Quistclose trust.

A Quistclose trust is a specific type of trust in common law jurisdictions which arises in relation to sums which are advanced by way of credit to a person for the that persons own use, but for a specific purpose. ...

External links

• Advertisements and brochures for Rolls Razor and Colston products
• Article from Time magazine dated 13 October 1961