John Bloom

John Bloom (born 1931), is an English entrepreneur, known for his success and failure at the Rolls Razor company in selling washing machines in the early 1960s.

Biography

A tailor's son, he was born to orthodox Jewish parents in London's East End. Bloom's father Sam was born in Poland, and his mother was of Sephardic background. He attended Hackney Downs School. After leaving school aged 16, he tried a number of schemes before enlisting in the Royal Air Force. Bloom was initially posted to No3 Radio School at RAF Compton Bassett near Calne, Wiltshire for his training as a signalman.^[1] The local coach company Cards of Devizes provided contracted coaches to the RAF, which on a Saturday afternoon would take the airmen to London on their 36 hour passes. Bloom decided with a friend who ran a coach company in Stoke Newington that they could undercut the Card/RAF's coaches by half. When Cards took Bloom to court, the judge upheld Bloom with a declaration that became Bloom's motto: "It's no sin to make a profit."^[2] Bloom was later posted to Bletchley Park and then managed to get a posting to Bush House in the Aldwych, on the grounds that his mother was unwell. She died several years later from a form of Multiple Sclerosis

Washing machines

After Bloom left the RAF, he originally worked as a salesman for a company selling Dutch-made washing-machines door-to-door. After a while Bloom started his own company and tried to buy machines from Holland , As Bloom had very little money or credit , many Dutch firms refused to manufacture for him. After eventually making a deal with a plant in Utrecht, Bloom formed his own company which advertised the "Electromatic" twin tub washer-spin dryer for 39 guineas - 50% below high street retailers prices.^[2]

In 1958 Bloom placed an advert in the Daily Mirror offering home washing-machine demonstrations. Generating 7,000 responses via posted coupon responses, Blooms' unorthodox marketing and low prices meant that within a short time period he had taken 10% of the market from Hoover and Hotpoint. Bloom's innovation was to sell the machines direct to the public via coupon advertising, at around half the cost of retailers, also sold largely through affordable hire purchase agreements.

By now selling 500 machines a week, Bloom calculated to cut overheads by manufacturing in Britain. Bloom cut a deal with the then moribund Rolls Razor Company to make 25,000 twin-tub washing machines, and later merged the two companies, becoming Managing Director with a majority share of the companies stock.^[2] In early 1962 Bloom, formed an alliance with the Colston dishwasher company, and expanded into dishwashers,and in 1963 took over sales of the famous Prestcold Refrigerator business immediately cutting the prices by half from those that had been sold by retail outlets. This was followed by, rental TVs trading stamps - and latterly Bulgarian holidays a 2 week all in holiday was just 59 pounds once again cutting out retailers as he signed an exclusive deal to market Bulgaria in the U.K. "Bloom had achieved fame and fortune selling cheap In the 1950’s washing machines were expensive and John Bloom sold them cheap. The idea was that the more he had made, the less they would cost him and the less he could charge. Still not cheap enough? Offer a really cheap one then get your salesman to switch-sell to one a little more expensive. Obviously, the alternative of service-guarantees wasn’t available in the 50’s. Within seven years, John had run out of millions of people to buy his machines and had gone bust, but not before he’d started another get-rich-quick scheme. Cheap holidays for the masses. In Bulgaria.

Here’s how it worked. The Bulgarian Black Sea coast was warm and sunny and littered with modern functional hotels. Why? Because Bulgaria was a communist country and part of the Soviet bloc. Communist organizations sent their best workers on holiday, not to Spain, naturally, because Spain cost hard currency. Holidaying at home, or near to it was better, and cheaper. Bulgaria was the worker’s choice.

But, Bulgaria wanted to buy nice, expensive western things and didn’t have any nice expensive western money to buy them with. There were two alternatives – barter – you get some Bulgarian wine and we get some jeans, and sales for hard currency direct (we don’t care how much as long as it’s hard). Enter J. Bloom you sell me hotel accommodation and food, I’ll bring you millions of clients that you can proselytise at and, I’ll give you loads (well, some) hard, very hard, western currency. Don’t forget John Bloom was a salesman, so he wouldn’t forget to sell the Bulgarians the "Benefits" rather than just the "Features". So, he’d have said " Our holidaymakers will Love Bulgaria and they’ll have a wonderful time. So, they’ll go home and tell all their friends how beautiful Bulgaria is, how good Bulgarian food is and how fantastic Bulgarian wine is. They’ll love you all and they’ll buy your food and wine and holidays. You’ll be made – and popular!"

The Bulgarians fell for it, and soon Zlatni Pyassatsi was "Sunny Beach", Slunchev Bryag" was "Golden Sands" and Drouzhba and Varna were Drouzhba and Varna. The state airline, the aptly named TABSO was contracted for flights from the UK. Holidaymakers in their thousands piled in at £59 for two weeks full board and all the yoghourt you could eat. Then Rolls Razor went bust.

As far as the Bulgarians were concerned, this was a disaster, they liked this game – hard currency for nothing that cost them anything, and good PR. It was great, and they didn’t want it to stop. Luckily, the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society came to the rescue and, with Balkantourist, the Bulgarian state-owned tourist organization, formed Balkan Holidays to satisfy the demand for Bulgarian holidays created by Mr Bloom." 8*

The company listed on the London Stock Exchange in mid-1962, at $3.50, with the price doubling in weeks. By the end of 1963, the marketed Rolls-Colston company was selling over 200,000 machines a year.^[3]

Personal excess

Bloom's business expanded rapidly, relying on the most aggressive marketing campaign of his time.(In 1963 Bloom was the largest press advertiser in the United Kingdom** )The campaign made Bloom a household name in the country during the opening years of the 1960s - After appearing in a famous debate on "This Was The Week That Was" in November 1963 against Bernard Levin, The Sunday Telegraph and the main media reported that "Bloom was a head on victor and it was the first time Bernard Levin had been worsted in a debate" with Bloom positioning himself as a friend of the housewife, pal of the working man, scourge of the City, enemy of the Establishment, and Resale Price Maintenance. "Bloom with his youth his daring and relentless salesmanship, a symbol of bold free enterprise became a figure of folk lore to be loved or hated"*

The listing of Rolls Razor made Bloom a millionaire, and along with his black Rolls Royce Phantom he married Anne, in 1961. Bloom bought a Park Lane apartment, a French Riviera villa, and the 376-ton 150 foot motor yacht Ariane for $1,000,000.^[3] Famous for his social connections,and parties attended by celebrities and politicians alike, The Beatles, Shirley Bassey, Peter Ustinov, Adam Faith and David Bowie credits Bloom as being central to his first record deal, when the then-unknown singer was invited to play at a party in Bloom's Park Lane flat, and subsequently introduced to an agent. Bloom was the first commercial sponsor in May 1963 of the Royal Windsor Horse Show,and on 18 March 1964 in the House of Lords Lord Balfour Of Inchrne called then Prime Minister Harold Wilson " A real super salesman the John Bloom of political life"

Bloom had a lover in 1962, 18 year old Christine Hughes who was the wife of Brighton's "Blue Gardenia Club" Harvey Holford. After Hughes returned from a tryst with Bloom, Holford shot Hughes five times and was found lying by her body. On 29 March 1963 Holford was found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation and diminished responsibility, and sentenced to three years imprisonment.^[4]

Collapse

But the retailers and UK manufacturers were unhappy with Blooms direct sales methods of cutting out the retailer, his 2 for one schemes giving a free refrigerator when you bought a washing machine, and his efforts to abolish Resale Price Maintenance, which would have meant that factory fixed retail pricing would be abolished for all products, so they reduced their prices considerably to create the so-called Washing Machine War, between direct sales and retailers. Bloom was forced to increase his advertising costs just as sales began to fall, and was then hit by the 11 week 1964 postal strike which resulted in coupon returns drying up. Receipts from Rolls's customers hire-purchase agreements were underwritten by banker Sir Isaac Wolfson, who by mid-1964 had bankrolled Bloom with a $28 million loan. Spotting trouble, Sir Isaac withdrew his support and sped the downfall. With Bloom suspected of malpractice, the companies shares were suspended at $0.15 in mid-July 1964, before the company announced it would be placed into voluntary liquidation.^[3]

After the collapse there were many recriminations, but The Economist said at the time:

"If the British economy is not sufficiently competitive wrote Harold Wincott in the Financial Times, if established industry is too solidly wedded to price maintenance, we need more John Blooms not fewer of them" and in a provocative letter to The Times Ralph Harris Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs wrote " Mr. Bloom has already done more for economic growth in Britain than many of its verbal champions in NEDC and Elsewhere"

Later life

Since being made bankrupt in 1969 ],^[4] little was heard of Bloom until 1972. He remains married to his wife Anne, mother of his two children. He published his own book It's no sin to make a profit in 1971.^[5] In 1972 Bloom started a medieval restaurant in Los Angeles called 1520 A.D.,as quoted in Time magazine Good evening. For tonight you are back in 1520 A.D., where women are second-class citizens." With that greeting male customers are ushered into the 1520 A.D. restaurant in Anaheim, Calif., where Old English fantasy, audience participation and a big helping of unabashed male chauvinism are on the menu. Women are ordered to walk six paces behind their escorts into the paneled banquet hall, where spoons are used for banging on tables, and the diners themselves play leading roles in an outlandish floor show. Others in the cast of characters include a juggler, a man dressed in a bear costume who periodically chases a fleeing damsel around the room, and a bevy of "pinchable wenches" who wait on tables—and dance on them too. Presiding over all is a reincarnated Henry VIII, brought back to life at the boisterous age of 29. When the King enters the room, diners are expected to drop their forks and snap to attention. When he raises his tankard and exclaims "All hail," the guests are expected to return the toast, "Wassail." When his jester leads a chorus of the King's favorite ditty, Immorality Forever, woe to the bloke who fails to sing along.

"I am told someone thinks his soup is more important than singing," bellows the King's henchman if a nonsinger is detected. "He who does not sing goes to the stocks, and we encourage bread to be thrown at him." Without further encouragement, the customers begin beating their spoons on tables and chanting, "Stocks, stocks" and the hapless miscreant, man or woman, is unceremoniously clapped in a pillory and pelted with wads of bread by his fellow diners. As a consolation, the prisoner may also receive spontaneous—and sympathetic—kisses from other diners.

"It's like mass group therapy," says John Bloom, the 1520s creator, in explaining why people spend $7.95 for the privileges of eating a mediocre meal and taking part in the far-out activities. "This is a place where people can release their inhibitions. It's all in fun and we don't let it get out of hand." )

A fast-talking Englishman, now 40, who made and lost a fortune selling washing machines, Bloom had been struck by Comic Don Rickles' ability to insult Las Vegas audiences and make them love it. Audience participation, he decided, could spark interest in the little-known medieval restaurant he had opened in London. The serendipitous broadcast of The Six Wives of Henry VIII on British television provided some free publicity, and after Bloom added the nonstop entertainment, the prototype 1520 became a success.

The Anaheim version of the restaurant shamelessly mixes old English songs with choruses of I've Been Working on the Railroad and The Star Spangled Banner. But despite the anachronisms and some complaints from outraged feminists and men who did not like the way their dates were manhandled in the stocks, the 1520 has been packing them in since it opened three months ago. Bloom and his associate, Writer Daud Alani, have already opened a second branch in Los Angeles and plan to go nationwide next year. They hope to make a profit while they can, for there is an obvious limit to the amount of repeat business the 1520s will do. "You could not come here every night," says Bloom. "You could not stand the strain." (7) From 1972 to 1978 1520 AD opened in leading hotels in major U:S cities, the Business ceased operations in 1979, Bloom moved to Mallorca where he later opened a Piano Bar which he eventually sold to his partners.Since then he has been involved as a consultant for multi national companies.

References

• John Bloom, It's no sin to make a profit, London: W H Allen 1971 ISBN 0-4910-0076-6
• "The Anatomy of Britain Today" by Anthon Sampson. Published 1985 by London Hodder and Stoughton ISBN 0-3400-0199-2**

6*.Sunday Telegraph November 17 1963

7* Time Magazine November 7 1972

8*"You lucky People by VALERE TJOLLE Valere is Sustainable Tourism Editor the world's largest global online community for the Travel and Tourism industry