John Bloom

John Bloom (8 November 1931 – 3 March 2019) was a British entrepreneur, best known for his role in the "Washing Machine Wars" of 1962–64 when he drastically reduced prices by direct sales that cut out the retailers. His company Rolls Razor made great inroads into the market but several manufacturers obtained injunctions to stop them selling at below the fixed retail price. His operation was also hit by a long postal strike and the withdrawal of a major backer, forcing the company into liquidation. Bloom was a controversial figure whose aggressive techniques shook up a complacent market but who gave new power to the consumer. His often-repeated motto "it's no sin to make a profit" became the title of his memoirs.

Early life and education Bloom was born John Bloomstein It was there that he started his first enterprise. He noticed that a local coach company, Cards Coaches of Devizes, provided coaches to the RAF under contract. On Saturday afternoons these took airmen from the base to London on 36-hour passes. With a friend who ran a coach company in Stoke Newington, Bloom undercut Cards Coaches by half. Cards took Bloom to court but the judge sided with Bloom who declared that "it's no sin to make a profit", which later became his motto. Bloom was later posted to Bletchley Park and then Bush House in the Aldwych, London, on the grounds that his mother was unwell; she died some years later from a form of multiple sclerosis.

Washing machines After the RAF, he initially worked as a salesman for a company selling Dutch-made washing machines door-to-door. After a while, he decided to start his own company and tried to buy machines from the Netherlands. With little money or credit this was difficult, but eventually he made a deal with a factory in Utrecht. He advertised them under the name "Electromatic". They were twin-tub machines with a washer and separate spin-drier, priced at 39 guineas (equivalent to £40.95). This was about half the price of shop-bought machines. However it was running out of people to buy the machines.

Collapse Bloom's business had expanded rapidly, relying on the most aggressive marketing campaign of his time. In 1963 Bloom was the UK's largest press advertiser and a household name in the early 1960s.

Bloom appeared in a debate on BBC's That Was The Week That Was in November 1963 with Bernard Levin. The Sunday Telegraph had reported on the debate that Bloom had been the victor and it was the first time Bernard Levin had lost a debate. Bloom had come across as the housewife's friend; a pal of working men; the scourge of the City and enemy of the Establishment and resale price maintenance. Bloom was symbol of free enterprise. The listing of Rolls Razor on the Stock Exchange made Bloom a millionaire with a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a flat in Park Lane, and he rented the Villa La Fiorentina on Cap Ferrat on The French Riviera as a sales incentive scheme for his top salesmen to visit for holidays. Later he purchased a 376-ton 150-foot motor yacht Ariane for $1 million, In 1972 Bloom started a medieval themed theatre restaurant called 1520 AD in St Martins Lane, London, which later expanded in the US, starting with an outlet in Anaheim in California.

In November 1972 the Anaheim restaurant was featured in Time magazine, which said "Old English fantasy, audience participation and a big helping of unabashed male chauvinism are on the menu". Time described Bloom as "a fast-talking Englishman", who "had been struck by comic Don Rickles' ability to insult Las Vegas audiences and make them love it", and proclaimed the restaurant a runaway success. From 1972 to 1978 1520 AD opened in leading hotels in major U.S. cities, but, as Bloom had commented to Time, there was an obvious limit to the amount of return business, and the restaurants ceased operations in 1978.

Bloom left the US and moved to Mallorca in Spain in 1979, where he later opened a piano bar in Plaza Gomilla in the centre of Palma. Several years later he sold his share to his partners. In 1984 he was featured and interviewed in the Sunday Times Colour Supplement 25th anniversary issue. He was later involved as a consultant for multi-national companies, primarily in merchandising and corporate sponsorship. Bloom is acknowledged by Tom Bower, the author of No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone, as arranging the first meeting between Bower and Ecclestone in late 2009.

Death John Bloom died in Marbella, Spain on 3 March 2019.