Vacuum cleaners used to be sold on the premise that the higher the motor wattage, the better the machine. The reality is that these machines were inefficient and noisy.

In 2013, the EU introduced eco-design energy labelling to this product category, capping motor power at 900W and assessing everything from noise and emissions to dust pickup and annual energy consumption.

Every manufacturer in the category had to respond. Vax Commercial saw it as an opportunity to take the lead.

Matt's brief was to take an existing product and make it category leading under the new regulations, without changing how it looked. That meant a complete internal redesign of the air paths, motor, floor tool and filtration, while keeping the external surfaces untouched.

Once the first machine was proven, he travelled to China to prepare the manufacturer for what was coming. Tooling trials, trial builds, compliance education and setting up end of line testing. The learnings from that first machine then formed the foundation for an entire family of products.

Both launch products achieved an overall A rating, a category leading position at the time. The larger of the two outperformed the prior market leader on five of the six assessed criteria.

In total, five machines were taken from concept to production ready across the 18 month programme, each built on the learnings of the last.