A FAMILY-RUN manufacturer is readying itself to launch an assault on the white goods market, which could see it build on a £7m washing machine venture with fridge-freezers and tumble dryers, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Ebac is just weeks away from seeing its first washers go on sale, and the company has secured a deal with retailer Currys to stock models.

However, the based Newton Aycliffe-based firm, known for its dehumidifiers and water coolers, has not ruled out further expansion.

Pamela Petty, Ebac Group managing director, told The Northern Echo its vision to become the only UK-based maker of washing machines proves it can diversify.

She also pointed to the business' production of chest freezers, which it took on after buying the collapsed Icetech Freezers and moved its Norfrost domestic range from the Scottish Highlands to the North-East.

Mrs Petty said: “I see no reason why we cannot make all the white goods people need here in the North-East.

“I would like to think in a few years we could be making things like fridge-freezers and tumble dryers.

“In fact, fridge-freezers was where we wanted to be when Norfrost came onto the scene.

“We have a lot of ideas.”

Ebac’s voyage into washing machines means it will fill a gap created when Indesit took production of Hotpoint machines to Italy.

Mrs Petty says Ebac could make more than 200,000 every year, and has hopes of sales touching 50,000 in the first year.

It has made about 50 appliances so far, mainly used for testing, and Mrs Petty is confident they will be on sale by the end of the year, with two models available online with Currys.

She added: “We know washing machines inside and out.

“We have done a lot of testing and the machines are made to meet the needs of British families.

“It’s great that, as a British company, we are making them in this country, but they have to be right for the people using them.

“In the first year, it would be great if we could get 50,000 sales; that would be amazing.

“To be with Currys is massive and it gives us real credibility.”