Overview

Kleeneze is a homeware company that began in 1923, in

Hanham Hanham is a suburb of Bristol. It is located in the south east of the city. Hanham is in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. It became a civil parish on 1 April 2003. The post code area of Hanham is BS15. The population of thi ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

. It is now owned by Manchester-based brands house Ultimate Products, as part of their wider portfolio of homeware brands. Kleeneze provides everyday laundry and cleaning staples and appliances, to UK retailers.

History

The company's founder, Harry Crook, emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, and whilst there joined

Fuller Brush The Fuller Brush Company sells branded and private label products for personal care as well as commercial and household cleaning. It was founded in 1906 by Alfred Fuller. Consolidated Foods, now Sara Lee Corporation, acquired Fuller Brush in 196 ...

as a sales representative. He returned to Bristol several years later, and started a business making brushes which were sold

door-to-door Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a ...

by salesmen. In 1995, Kleeneze was bought by

European Home Retail European Home Retail plc (EHR) was a listed UK company, operating in home retail. Though registered in Swindon, Wiltshire, its head office was based in Warmley, Bristol. On 13 October 2006, it was announced EHR and its subsidiary Farepak had gon ...

(EHR). The company was bought by

Findel PLC Studio Retail Group plc, known until July 2019 as Findel plc, is a British home shopping company, based in Accrington, Lancashire. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange though its shares have been suspended since 14 February 2022, when ...

in 2007, after the collapse of EHR. In 2015, Findel sold Kleeneze to CVSL, an American holding company, as part of their MLM portfolio. The company remained at its original Hanham site for almost 80 years. In May 2004, the company relocated its headquarters and distribution centre to

Warmley Warmley is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Warmley is situated in between Bristol and Bath. It is a parish, with its own church, and has some minor landmarks, such as a World War One memorial the focus of Remembrance Services, and ...

. In 2007, after the acquisition by Findel, it was announced that the company would move to

Hyndburn Hyndburn is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington and covers the outlying towns of Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood, Oswaldtwistle and Rishton. The borough was created in 19 ...

. In 2016, funding was obtained from

Greater Manchester Combined Authority The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members; 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from on ...

for Kleeneze to set up a warehouse and distribution centre in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. Kleeneze was a founder member of the UK's

Direct Selling Association The Direct Selling Association (DSA) is a trade association in the United States that represents direct selling companies, primarily those that use multi-level marketing compensation plans. On behalf of its members' companies, the DSA engages in ...

until 2017. Kleeneze went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

under the firm

FRP Advisory FRP Advisory is a business advisory firm based in the United Kingdom, providing restructuring, corporate finance, debt advisory, forensic accounting and financial advisory and is one of the UK’s largest specialists in the area of corporate res ...

on 12 April 2018. This was due to a period of rough trading and operational issues following its 2017 move to Heywood which had caused the company to seek a buyer to save the company. At the time, the company reported 140 jobs and 5,000 distributors. In 2018, Kleeneze was purchased by Ultimate Products, a brand house for housewares and cleaning products. The brand continues to supply cleaning staples and household supplies. The brand was relaunched with a focus on floorcare and laundry products but through retail and online channels, after the previous door to door magazines sales mantra had failed to adapt to an increasing online demand from consumers.

References

External links

* Retail companies of the United Kingdom Defunct multi-level marketing companies Retail companies established in 1923 History of Bristol Companies based in Hyndburn British brands 1923 establishments in England Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom Marketing companies established in 1923 British companies established in 1923 {{UK-company-stub