Goblin Vacuum Cleaners was a British brand of vacuum cleaners made from the early 1900s till the early 2000s.
Goblin Vacuum Cleaners in the early 1930s were manufactured by the British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Co Ltd (BVC). The managing director was Hubert Cecil Booth who the company claimed had in fact invented the vacuum cleaner in about 1900, and which was subsequently copied in the USA and elsewhere.[1]
In 1902, it is recorded in the Court Journal for October 25, that Booth had the honour of showing the King and Queen the vacuum cleaning process at Buckingham Palace, and that as a result of this, BVC Vacuum Cleaners were installed there and at many other royal palaces throughout Europe. By the 1930s, many public buildings were equipped with 40 or more centralized vacuum cleaners using a common extraction system.
These centralized systems consisted of an air exhauster, a dust filter (with detachable dust container), and wrought iron pipes run through the building, to which flexible hoses could be fitted for use in individual rooms.
Hotels, flats, offices, town halls, railway stations, theatres, clubs, factories churches and ships were all using (or potential users of) the system.
Important users included the Houses of Parliament, Imperial Chemical House, the Bank of England, and the HQ of the State Savings Bank in Victoria, Australia.
Goblin was the trade name of their domestic cleaners.
Their industrial cleaning systems using similar technology were being used in power stations and factories, and include chimney cleaning devices, in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Calcutta, Barcelona, Shanghai and in HM Dockyards worldwide.
For many years, Goblin Vacuum Cleaners was one of the largest factory based industries in the Surrey town of Leatherhead, Ashtead area. Having such a large work force it even had its own social club on site for staff.
The factory was located at the top of Ermyn Way with the Roman Road, Stane Street, making up its southern border.
In the early 80s the company changed its name to BVC, British Vacuum Cleaners, though the new name never stuck with staff and locals.
In 1984 the company decided to cease operations at the Leatherhead plant and move to Gosport, Hampshire.
The plant closed its doors in May 1984. After years of sitting empty the site was bought and built on by Esso.