Kleeneze Europe Ltd and Home Shopping

Kleeneze was set up in 1923 by a man named Harry Cook (b.1889) in Bristol - where the main headquarters are still situated.  It was originally called the Kleen-E-Ze Brush Company and it was not until 1937 that diversification was introduced in the way of complimentary wax polishes.

Kleeneze obtained a special place in industrial history in 1959, by becoming the first company to introduce the 40 hour week and in 1959 became one of the co-founders of the Direct Selling Association (DSA) which still binds Kleeneze to a strict code of trading ethics. Indeed, the DSA were instrumental, along with other independent bodies, for outlawing certain ‘pyramid’ scams throughout the 70’s and 80’s.

Another turning point for Kleeneze came in 1970 when they became one of the first companies in the UK to pioneer network marketing (sometimes called multi-level-marketing, or MLM) and although quite a bold move at the time, it is one they have never regretted.

It wasn’t until 1982 that the first Kleeneze catalogue was introduced and this replaced the door-to-door salesman with the suitcase, who now became the door-to-door ‘salesman’ with his catalogues. 

By the 1990’s, Kleeneze were becoming so successful that they were purchased in 1995 by Farepak Ltd – the mail order hamper company and they became part of the now £200m + Kleeneze PLC Group.

After celebrating their 75^th anniversary in 1998, Kleeneze extended its field of operation into Ireland and changed its name to Kleeneze Europe Ltd.  This showed a clear intention of further expansion into the rest of Europe very early in the 21^st century and Kleeneze has already test marketed its products in several countries with huge success. Kleeneze began operations in Holland in 2003. Further European expansion is set for 2005.

Kleeneze also became a good supporter of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association (NNWA) and the distributors have been responsible for posting millions of leaflets to houses in their local neighbourhoods.

Kleeneze have traded successfully every year since 1923 and have experienced sales increases in the region of 700% in the last 8 years.  This is due largely to the fact that their product range and quality have improved so much over the last decade.  Whereas there were only around 400 products in the catalogues in the early 90’s, Kleeneze now has over 2000 products to choose from.  With innovations in technology such as the internet and voicemail, the business is now far much easier to run now than at any other time in its history.  With so much expansion potential in the UK and Ireland and then expansion onto the European mainland, this really is the opportunity of a lifetime!