John Bloom obituary

Businessman best known for his role in the cut-price washing machine wars of the early 1960sThe entrepreneur John Bloom, who has died aged 87, drove a coach and horses through the complacency of the British retail trade in the 1960s, with cut-price washing machines, dishwashers, and eventually even package holidays. He transformed the way white goods were sold, through direct sales and by cutting out the middle men – not only the retailer but also the wholesaler – making him a multim