production, volume and jobs. A cost reduction campaign followed with good-quality components being replaced by inferior cheap components, and there was a complete breakdown of any real preventive maintenance program, which resulted in a large number of machine and equipment breakdowns. The reality, rather than the myth, was the Hoover Meadowbank site was being run into the ground by corporate decisions. In the late 1990s, Email closed the Meadowbank factory and integrated its whitegoods manufacturing into the Simpson plant in South Australia. The vacuum cleaner side of the business was sold to Godfreys. Several years later, Email itself was sold and broken up, and the whitegoods division of Email was sold to Electrolux. Shortly after taking ownership, Electrolux ceased leasing the Hoover brand name, and the manufacturing and supply of Hoover white goods ceased in Australia. As of 2019, Hoover whitegoods are now being sold throughout Australia through several retailers. Free flights promotion In 1992, the British division of Hoover announced the Hoover free flights promotion, the demand for which rose far beyond the company's expectations, resulting in major costs and public relations problems for the British division and Maytag, which eventually led to its sale to the Italian manufacturer Candy. In 1993, legal action was started in the United Kingdom to take Hoover to court over the promotion, and was successful in Hoover v. Sandy Jack at the sheriff court in Kirkcaldy, Fife. Hoover Holiday Pressure Group furthered court action against Hoover at St Helens in Merseyside. Competition In 2000, US company Hoover was found guilty of patent infringement, as they used Dyson's Dual Cyclone in their Vortex vacuum—except they added one more Cyclone, calling it a Triple Vortex Cyclone As a result, Hoover lost its dominant position in the UK and in the United States, and now faces strong competition from numerous brands. In the United States, Hoover's competition includes: Royal, Dirt Devil, Oreck, and Vax (all of which are owned by Hoover's Hong Kong owner Techtronic Industries); Kirby; Rexair; Eureka; Dyson; Electrolux; Panasonic; Bissell; and Kenmore (the house brand of American store chain Sears, which is manufactured predominantly by Panasonic and Sanyo). Dyson and Electrolux lead the list of UK competitors, followed by Bosch, Dirt Devil, SEBO, Vax, Morphy Richards, Miele, Bissell, Numatic (maker of the famous "Henry" cylinder cleaner), Zanussi, Russell Hobbs, LG, and others. See also Hoover Building, 1930s art deco factory and offices in