Gray & Adams (Ireland) Ltd. is part of a four-depot set-up, with other sites in Doncaster in England and Dunfermline and Fraserburgh (the group Head Office) in Scotland. The Gray & Adams company was first established in 1957, with the Ireland branch being set up in 1981. Whilst G&A Ireland is undoubtedly becoming increasingly self-sufficient, the technical expertise and financial support provided by the parent company in Fraserburgh has played a major role in Gray & Adams Ireland’s success.
2007 heralds a momentous anniversary for Gray & Adams, not only because the company as a whole celebrates five successful decades in the transport industry, but because the Irish depot, based in Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim celebrates its 25th year in business also. These milestones present Gray & Adams with an opportunity to celebrate the successes that have ensured that the company remains at the forefront of the industry as the UK’s leading manufacturer of bespoke vehicle bodies and trailers for temperature-controlled applications.
Gray & Adams remains a family owned business with an annual turnover in excess of £95 million and boasts a workforce of more than 600 in total, with approximately 50 of these employees being located in Newtownabbey. The company has grown to become a luminary of the UK and Irish trailer and body manufacturing industries, demonstrating the same core principles that have remained of fervent importance in the running of the company over the past fifty years.
Since the founding of Gray & Adams, the company has contributed immeasurably to technological innovation and development within the industry. Recent years have seen a number of major changes for Gray & Adams. The investment of £20 million in the new millennium has provided changes to each depot, from the expansion of production and repair facilities, to the introduction of a number of new and improved products and services.
The head quarters now boasts the most technologically advanced panel manufacturing facility in the UK and the Newtownabbey depot has benefited from an extension of the repairs facility, which now possesses a fully equipped five-bay repair workshop, erected to cater for all types of repair and service work on any make or specification of vehicle or trailer.
Gray & Adams is a progressive company that is built around the market. Very recently, market demand has prompted Gray & Adams to add twin deck trailer designs, highly specified custodial vehicles, insulated curtain-side trailers and light refrigerated bodies to the product portfolio. The company’s expansion into the manufacturing of both dry freight and temperature-controlled double deck trailers with moving and fixed floor options is testament to the company’s proactive approach to operators’ demands for better efficiency and utilisation from their trailer. Gray & Adams are the only coachbuilder based in Ireland who has experience in the construction of custodial vehicles and the venture into the manufacture of insulated curtain-side trailers and bodies was a specialty developed and carried out solely at the Newtownabbey depot. This product called the ‘flexi-loader’ combines the flexibility of side access loading with the thermal efficiency of conventional solid side refrigerated trailers. The new 3.5 tonne light refrigerated vehicle from Gray & Adams has also proven popular with customers due to high payload capabilities and flexibility.
As well as these newly introduced products, the company’s staple products have also grown and matured over the years. A once common complaint that Gray & Adams manufacture the heaviest vehicles on the market has been rectified through modernisation of design, so that they now compete favourably with competitors on this front. This, however, has not meant that the quality of Gray & Adams vehicles or their longevity has been compromised: the two key factors that the company’s reputation and market share have been built upon.
One other myth that has since been dispelled is that Gray and Adams products are much more expensive than other manufacturers. On a like for like basis, Gray and Adams offer excellent value for money to all customers. As is often the case with any product that looks cheap based on the initial purchase price, when the total cost of ownership is taken into account the cheaper product rarely represents a saving in the long term. Gray & Adams offer good value for money over the whole vehicle life when operating and maintenance costs are taken into consideration.
Also important to note is that Gray & Adams were the pioneers of the first multi-temperature bodies and while these were traditionally operated by dividing the body with a two-temperature door, they have now developed the multi-temperature concept to include a vast range of options such as, fixed lanes, movable lanes and tri-temp, as well as two-temp configurations.
Continued sustained growth and increasing market share has led to the company being amongst the best within a highly competitive European market. Between 1957 and 2007, Gray & Adams has evolved as a manufacturer, evidenced by the vast product range and bespoke capabilities. The company has demonstrated an ambitious and committed approach to market led product development and innovation – a precedent that looks set to continue.
