Welcome to the Numatic Wiki[]
Here you will find various pages of information for all the different vacuum cleaner models manufactured by Numatic International, formerly known as Numatic Engineering (1969-1980).
This wiki was created on the 22nd of November 2013, and currently has 69 articles.
Models that aren't noteworthy enough for their stand-alone page can be found in the Quick Guide.
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Crewkerne works factory
Founded in 1969 as Numatic Engineering Ltd, their first factory was situated on Oxen Road, Crewkerne, Somerset, where it produced its first vacuum cleaner designed for cleaning coal, oil and gas fired boilers. It is known as "Flat Top" and lives in their Museum in Chard, Somerset. During this time, they had employed six people and production consisted of repurposed oil drums, washing-up bowls, along with many other off the shelf parts. All assembled in such a way as to provide a simple, reliable workhorse for commercial and industrial use.
In 1971, demand had outgrown the little Crewkerne works so Numatic relocated to an old watermill in nearby Yeovil known as Chudleigh Mill, which was on Sherborne road and has since been replaced with housing properties. Their first Wet and Dry vac was produced here as a result of the river flooding between 5 and 10cm regularly! Numatic would later go on to produce their popular NV2, an all-steel, low-profile canister vacuum cleaner designed for both commercial and domestic markets.
Chudleigh Mill (formerly known as Pen Mill)
But by 1974, Numatic had outgrown the mill and so they packed their belongings and moved home once again, this time to Beaminster, Dorset which they'd go onto call their "first real factory". This is where and when the golden era began. Due to it being Numatic's first proper factory a lot of models which would later become sought-after & rare would be manufactured, you could call it early days for the company however it wasn't and they were just going through a phase of testing new ideas. In 1981, they produced their first plastic vacuum cleaner known as "Henry", from this moment onwards, production focused on plastic vacuum cleaners. The Beaminster factory was located on Broadwindsor Road, DT8 3PR, as is now home to Clippers Teas. It can be seen on street view here.
Up until 1990, Numatic were mainly assembling their products from metal and plastic components supplied by sub-contractors. They then progressed into their own tube manipulation facility to make improved, stronger, commercial products. It was at this time that we realised they needed increased production capacity and greater manufacturing expertise if they were to remain competitive in world markets. They found a premises up in Chard, where they are situated today, which could do this for decades to come. It wouldn't be until 1994 when Numatic finally finished moving into their new home. This is when their products began shipping with the Chard address on rating stickers and documentation.
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