Whirlpool Appliances have always been a company that has gained custom through its top quality products and its high standard of ethics. The Whirlpool Corporation has been in existence under one name or another for nearly one hundred years now and was originally called the Upton Machine Company after its founders Louis, Frederick and Emery Upton. The first sign of the ethics of Whirlpool Appliances was in its first year of life when the Upton’s supplied a company with an order of 100 electric, motor- driven winger washers (this is what the company was producing at that time). There was a failure in the transmission of the machines and Louis Upton immediately replaced them at no extra cost. Their customer was so impressed with the way they did business, that he immediately doubled his Whirlpool order.

The same degree of service that was seen in the original company is available even today at Whirlpool. It is the number one appliance brand in Europe and has been selected as a Superbrand in the United Kingdom. The values that Whirlpool Appliances work to are Respect, Integrity, Diversity, Teamwork and Spirit of Winning. Their mission statement is: Everyone, passionately creating loyal customers for life. Today, Whirlpool supports a variety of ethical and worthy causes including Habitat for Humanity International, which aims to eliminate poverty housing across the world. The Whirlpool Corporation is also the premier sponsor of the Women’s Tennis Association European Tour.

Whirlpool is in American company and was founded in Michigan in 1911. In 1929 it merged with the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company. It wasn’t until 195 that the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company changed it’s name to the Whirlpool Corporation. By this time there were already a number of other brands under the umbrella of the Corporation, including the Bauknecht business and the family owned Ignis company. These were companies which had originally bee acquired by Philips, another well known domestic appliance manufacturer. The Whirlpool Corporation and Philips merged in 1989 and Whirlpool became the sole owner in 1991. Two years ago (2006) the Whirlpool Corporation acquired Maytag, increasing its workforce to over 80,000 and stretching its manufacturing and technology research centres to over sixty globally.

This year (2008), Whirlpool Appliances launched their Green Kitchen concept in light of the increasing worry over energy efficiency and its effect on the environment. The concept uses technology to optimise the use of heat and water and has processes in place that increase the energy efficiency of the kitchen by up to 70%. The concept focuses on four main areas to achieve these energy savings: Products, which are estimated to save around 16% of energy; Eco-system, which is thought to save around 24% of energy; Behaviour, which saves 10% of energy; and Co-generation, which is thought to minimise cost in the kitchen by 20%.

Today, Whirlpool Appliances has Headquarters in North America, South America, Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Asia and Australia. Its motto is ‘Sensing the Difference’ and it now manufactures more than just washing machines, but has branched out to most areas of the domestic appliance market and now also manufactures cookers and refrigeration Whirlpool appliances as well.