Dough - Series 1: Vacuum Cleaners

About this episode

<p>Why do we buy so many vacuum cleaners? </p><p>Dough is a new series from BBC Radio 4 which looks at the business behind profitable, everyday products and considers how they might evolve in the future.</p><p>In this episode, the entrepreneur Sam White speaks with experts from the world of vacuum cleaner manufacturing, including:</p><p>Grahame Capron-Tee - who has seen many significant changes during his long career in the industry;</p><p>Nick Grey - the inventor and founder of Gtech;</p><p>Anthony Williams - a global director at the data insights company, GFK. </p><p>Also joining them is the technology expert and applied futurist Tom Cheesewright, to offer his insight and predictions on what might be coming beyond the current production pipeline.</p><p>Together, they explore how vacuum cleaners went from exterior, horse-drawn contraptions to interior, automatic robots scuttling around on the floor, explain why UK households buy so many vacuum cleaners and give their expert views on game-changing - and pointless - product innovations. </p><p>There's a debate about bagged versus bagless vacuum cleaners and a discussion on when robotic vacuum cleaners might be able to clean more than just the floors. </p><p>Dough looks at where the smart money's going now and what that could mean for all of us in the years ahead.</p><p>Produced by Jon Douglas. Dough is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.</p><p>Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in August when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.</p><p>In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds</p>