Some more history
In 1952 Max designed a new commercial six-slot toaster with a mechanical timer and manual eject lever to keep the toast warm until needed. Residents of Picton Street and the entire Gort-Barten family were involved in its production. In 1954 the Government compulsory-purchased the factory and gave Max money to build a new factory on the Old Kent Road. The design and engineering of the toaster gradually evolved and in 1964 a waffle iron was added to the range. Dualit toasters became a ubiquitous part of commercial kitchens all over the UK, even making it on-board the QE2.
Dualit toasters started to appear in John Lewis, Fortnum & Mason and Harrods. A three-slot version was made specifically for John Lewis. In 1974 Max stepped down as Managing Director and Leslie joined the business. By the late '70s Dualit had employed a Royal College of Art design graduate and the dualit toasters enhanced styling subsequently gave it a bigger presence in retail outlets. Government export grants encouraged Dualit to attend European trade shows. Demand from foreign distributors, coupled with the '80s trend for commercial kitchen appliances, saw demand quadruple overnight and the factory was extended to increase capacity. In 1989 Max was awarded the CBE for services to the British manufacturing industry.
Dualit launched its first cordless kettle that used a 360° swivel base. New products were sourced, tested, re-engineered and re-housed, Dualit style. In 1999 Max and Leslie exploited Space Shuttle technology to develop the Proheat element. It won the company a Millennium award. In 2003, the same year that Max Gort-Barten died, the company outgrew its original home in the Old Kent Road and moved to new premises in Crawley, West Sussex. The launch of new countertop products continued in the 00s: with the Lite toasters, DAB radios (2006 & 2008), range of food prep appliances (2005 & 2007), Espressivo coffee machine (2008), and most recently the NewGen toaster (2009).
2010 and beyond will be an exciting time for Dualit. Catering and consumer markets will continue to be equally important, with the company's reputation amongst professional chefs one of the main reasons why consumers choose Dualit. There will be a constant cycle of new product development, but ideas will only see the light of day if they can demonstrate true Dualit brand values – no frills, no gimmicks, just innovative, well-engineered solutions.
All the above history was gleaned from the Dualit Website and is their copyright
