Gray & Adams News AUTUMN 2022
In this issue > Gray & Adams pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II > TCS&D 2022 Award Success for Gray & Adams
ISSUE 18 | AUTUMN 2022
> Continuing our Partnership Journey - Interview with Scott Dargan
Introduction Now that we have reached the Autumn season, we reflect back on the last half of the year at Gray & Adams. After a busy six months, it feels as if 2022 has been an incredibly quick year so it is important to reflect on the changes and achievements within the business and the wider industry.
Contents Introduction from the directors
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Photo Spread
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Gray & Adams pays tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
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Supporting customer growth – OPX and Gray & Adams
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Continuing our Partnership Journey - Interview with Scott Dargan
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Award Winning
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Gray & Adams is a finalist in prestigious Make UK Manufacturing Awards
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TCS&D 2022 Award Success for Gray & Adams
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Gray & Adams wins Bidfood’s Supplier of the Year
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Gray & Adams reaching for a Northern Star
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Williamson Food Service Case Study
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The BIG Interview
On the 8th September this year, the UK turned its attention to Royal Family with saddening news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty was a remarkable woman who will be remembered for her service and dedication to the country, throughout her long reign. Gray & Adams pays its respects to her on page 4. In happier news, we are also delighted to share that Gray & Adams has recently enjoyed a successful run of award entries. We are thrilled to announce that we won both Trailer of the Year and Rigid of the Year at the TCS&D Awards, read more about the evening on page 10. The team were also pleased to find out the news that we had been selected as finalists in both a regional business award, The Northern Star Awards, and a national manufacturing awards, The Make UK Awards. You can read more about this exciting news and the categories Gray & Adams entered on pages 12 and 9.
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Gray & Adams Supplier Spotlight - A conversation with Aerodyne
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Our People
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Staff Spotlight - Emma Stennett & Ian Johnston
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Staff Spotlight - Ian Johnston (continued) & Paul Kewley
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As always, we are renowned for putting our customer first, with quality and bespoke designs that fit our customers’ needs to drive their business forward. In this edition of the newsletter, we speak with Grahame Bennett from Marks & Spencer for this quarters’ BIG Interview, as he gives his thoughts on working with Gray & Adams and innovation in the industry (pages 14-15). We were also delighted to speak with new customer, OPX group (page 5) and spotlight longer term customers such as Williamson Food Service (page 13). Working with key suppliers, where we have developed strong, long-term relationships, is one of the strategies we use to continuously deliver quality to our customers. In this edition of the newsletter, we spotlight Aerodyne (page 17). One thing that remains true to Gray & Adams over our 65 years of business is our expert teams. Our teams are what make all of our success possible and we want to celebrate their commitment and dedication to Gray & Adams over the years. It is for this reason we have put together a staff feature, showcasing talent from around our depots, starting on page 18. As we move into the last part of the year, we want to extend our thanks and best wishes to our staff, customers, and suppliers, as well as our gratitude for supporting Gray & Adams for the last 65 years. JAMES AND PETER GRAY JOINT MANAGING DIRECTORS
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Gray & Adams pays tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II On 8th September 2022, the nation received the devastating news that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away, leaving a truly memorable legacy as the UK’s longest reigning monarch with an incredible 70 years of service to her country. Queen Elizabeth II truly embodied the meaning of the words duty and dedication throughout her reign. We join the nation in giving thanks for her lifetime of service to our country, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Royal Family. The passing of our Queen and the ascension of King Charles III is a poignant moment for all of us at Gray & Adams. We have been fortunate enough to have been part of events that honour our Royal Family over the years. The most memorable of these was when King Charles III (then HRH Prince Charles) visited our Fraserburgh HQ to mark Gray & Adams’ 60th anniversary back in 2017 and more recently, when Gray & Adams were named official supporters of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant. This was marked and celebrated by an interview with Joint Managing Directors, James & Peter Gray, who offered their support and admiration for the Monarch in the official Commemorative Album.
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Whilst we are all deeply saddened by the Queen’s passing, we give our thanks to her dedication to the United Kingdom and will remember her fondly.
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Supporting Customer Growth – OPX and Gray & Adams Gray & Adams customer, OPX Logistics, formerly OPX International, was born in 2017 and services blue chip businesses across the UK. Since 2017, OPX Logistics has enjoyed expansion and commercial growth due to the nature of the market segments it operates in. Having found that during the pandemic, the number of households purchasing goods via e-commerce sites had grown extensively, OPX grew with the market needs and opened up a distribution division in 2021 to give a full 360-degree fulfilment solution to its customers. The business has also increased its headcount in the transport team to ten people, 60% of which are women occupying the roles in a traditionally male dominated industry.
Gray & Adams Solutions OPX Logistics purchased ten single deck trailers from Gray & Adams to add to the fleet. Our customer specified that the trailer design they had in mind was similar to what Gray & Adams has designed for a large grocery retailer. This spec would also work for OPX Logistics as the business primarily deals with leading supermarket chains across both the logistics and distribution divisions and the inspiration for the fleet is what OPX Logistics have set their growth aspirations on for their own operations. Gray & Adams was delighted to provide a solution.
Gray & Adams has recently supplied ten single deck trailers to OPX Logistics’ operations that will continue to support and facilitate the business growth.
The quality of the single deck trailers was robust and detailed with new branded livery, which was carefully considered to line up with the strategic goals of the business. The trailers were also fitted with Titan Pack Hybrid Systems, provided by Marshall Fleet Solutions to contribute towards the sustainability goals of the company.
Customer Requirement Having enjoyed considerable growth over the last few years, OPX Logistics work hand-in-hand with the Recruitment and Distribution divisions that are housed under OPX Group, to provide a 360-degree fulfilment solution to their customers and therefore, needed to invest in a fleet that would suit the requirements of its diverse customer base. They have also become a strategic addition to the business that will support the recent growth across the logistics and distribution divisions.
Results The relationship between OPX Logistics and Gray & Adams is a fairly recent one, with this fleet of ten single decks being the first order placed to G&A, however Gray & Adams has been on the radar of the OPX Logistics Director for some time. Ryan Gower, Operations Director tells us,
“When OPX Logistics decided that we wanted purchase our own trailers, Gray & Adams were very helpful. Their fantastic consultative approach and expert knowledge meant they listened to our requirements and produced a solution that suited our needs perfectly.”
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Continuing Our Partnership Journey – Interview with Scott Dargan Carrier Transicold and Gray & Adams have a longstanding working relationship that dates back decades but a key date in this relationship was early in 2021 when the Vector eCool – the industry’s only fully autonomous electric trailer was fitted to a Gray & Adams demonstrator as an exclusive partnership, to showcase the latest technology to our UK customers. “We have the detailed data from our telematics which confirms that the statements we gave at the beginning of the project were true. We were also able to share this data with customers at the demonstrator stage, to help them with their considerations on whether they wanted to go ahead and purchase the Vector eCool to add to their fleet. As well as the data on cost savings, efficiency, and environmental considerations, we have also had some direct operating feedback on some other surprising benefits which we are delighted about. We have been told that the Vector eCool is so incredibly quiet whilst running which has added value to customers who operate in residential and urban areas. The reduced noise has also provided a much more relaxed environment for drivers, we feel that this is an important benefit as experienced drivers are in demand across the UK, so ensuring their workplace is that bit more enjoyable and comfortable is key for staff retention.”
The Vector eCool utilises an energy and recovery storage system which generates kinetic energy from the trailer axle and brakes into energy stored in the battery pack, powering the refrigeration unit. The vision for the technology was that its incorporation into a fleet, would help our customers reach their sustainability goals, increase efficiency in their operations and reduce fuel costs, whilst still delivering the quality in the trailer body that Gray & Adams customers have come to expect. The Vector eCool has now been available to our UK customers for over a year, and has generated interest, PR and most importantly, orders from our industry contacts over the past 12 months, so we thought it would be a great time to catch up with Carrier Transicold Managing Director, Scott Dargan on the success of the collaboration. Scott shares with us, “The feedback we have had from customers since we entered the demonstrator partnership with Gray & Adams has been absolutely fantastic! We have found that the conversion rate on orders from those who trialled the system in the first year to be over 30%, which has been above our expectations for such revolutionary new technology. We’ve also had customers asking if existing orders can be transferred into Vector eCools which speaks for itself in terms of how well the product has been received.”
Like Gray & Adams, Carrier Transicold is an industry leader in terms of innovation. Both businesses explore new technology and designs to bring to the market and despite the success of the Vector eCool, they are not planning on resting on their laurels just yet. When discussing the next steps for the eCool and Carrier as a business, Scott discusses his vision with us. “As well as our existing relationship with Gray & Adams building Vector eCool trailers, we also work closely together supplying customers with engineless all-electric rigid truck solutions as well as all-electric LCV refrigeration systems which can be powered from a multitude of fuel sources so we have all bases covered. We’ve also just announced a unique industry first fully integrated hydrogen fuel cell concept for our Vector product in conjunction with Bosch which we’ll be excited to bring to UK customers together with Gray & Adams in the future.
Now that the technology has been on the UK’s roads for over a year, both Carrier Transicold and Gray & Adams have gathered feedback on how the Vector eCool has impacted customer operations. This is something that both businesses were excited to receive as a proof point for the technology but were keen to allow time for both the data and the anecdotal evidence to develop. On this, Scott tells us,
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“At the start of next year, we are also introducing further developments to the Vector eCool itself drawing on customer feedback and innovations from our supplier partners. Examples of these include additional battery pack power options so we can service a wider range of customers with more diverse operations. We are also exclusively offering SAF’s TRAKr regen axle which will feature alongside the current VALX solution so that customers have additional options for their trailer build based on their operating preference.”
What Our Customers Say
When discussing the relationship to date with Gray & Adams, Scott tells us,
Regional Fleet Manager, Samworth Brothers Supply Chain
“Seeing the Vector eCool unit in action made making the switch an easy decision. It will play a key role in reducing our carbon footprint, helping us to focus on our path to net zero.” Ian Cooper,
“Thanks to the Vector eCool, we can see a clear path toward an engineless future for our refrigeration systems and don’t anticipate specifying any diesel- powered systems from here on.”
“The supply chain challenges affecting everyone at the moment can prove testing at times, however our close working and transparent relationship with Gray & Adams allows us to pivot quickly together and react proactively for our valued customers. It’s the open communication and trust we enjoy with the G&A team that allows us to be mutually successful. As we move into 2023 we also expect the Vector eCool to continue to be a key contributor to that success.”
Craig Stopforth, Transport Manager, Booths
“We were excited to see the Vector eCool in action, and we weren’t disappointed.” John Fletcher, Managing Director, Dawsongroup
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AWARD WINNING
Despite challenging market conditions for the UK manufacturing industries, Gray & Adams is delighted to be recognised for accolades that showcase our capabilities in developing talent, putting our customer first and our reputation for quality and innovation. In September, our team picked up two awards at the 2022 TCS&D awards. The TCS&D awards are industry renowned for recognising quality, commitment, and innovation in the cold chain industry, therefore we are delighted to announce our success at this event. Gray & Adams has also been recognised as finalists for both the Make UK Manufacturing Awards and the Northern Star Awards in various categories. This is an exciting achievement, as we are delighted to be recognised at a national level as well as a local level. In this next feature, we share more of these recent award successes. The fact that we have been recognised across the UK is testament to our people, our suppliers and our customers’ loyalty over the years, and we extend our thanks to them.
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Gray & Adams is a finalist in prestigious MAKE UK Manufacturing Awards Gray & Adams has been selected as a finalist in the Make UK Manufacturing Awards in the category of “Developing Young Talent”. The Make UK Awards celebrate manufacturing excellence across the UK in a multitude of industries. With winners including household names such as Sony UK, BAE Systems and KimberlyClark, Gray & Adams is delighted to be recognised as a major contender at this level.
Of the selection, Joint Managing Director, James Gray tells us, “Gray & Adams has always been committed to bringing opportunities to young people throughout our 65 years in business. There are a number of engineering and manufacturing disciplines that our apprentices can get involved with and we hope that, once they have successfully passed their particular programme, they will stay with the business for many years, as many of our employees have done before them. I fully believe in the importance of our apprenticeship programme. Gray & Adams offers a suitable and invaluable first step on the career ladder, that will provide young men and women with skills and a job for life. The apprenticeship programme allows Gray & Adams to futureproof the business and ensure its longevity. I believe that this approach shows Gray & Adams are committed to the future of the industry and young people alike”
The award entry is based on the business’s robust apprenticeship programme, the majority of the recruits are based at the Fraserburgh Headquarters with an intake that takes place each year. Previously, due to the commitment of this programme, the number of young people working through their qualifications at Fraserburgh has reached 55 in a single year, which provides a great sense of community and opportunity for economic stability for the young people in this region of Scotland.
Gray & Adams Doncaster, Dunfermline and Belfast all run similar apprenticeship schemes, with the highest number of young people based at Fraserburgh, Gray and Adams largest site. Some of the disciplines available include Hydraulic, Mechanical or Refrigeration Engineering, Joinery, Welding, Spray Painting and Coach Building.
Gray & Adams will attend the regional finals that will take place on 3rd November 2022 before the winners go forward to the national finals that will take place in early 2023.
Peter Gray, Joint Managing Director also shares his thoughts on the award success, “I’m delighted that Gray & Adams has been selected for the award. We are committed to encouraging young people to fulfil their potential and minimise skill gaps in our industry. It is great to be recognised for the investment and dedication we put into this alongside larger, blue-chip companies. We are celebrating our 65th anniversary this year, so winning the regional award for Developing Young Talent would round the year of nicely! The management team at Gray & Adams would also like to extend their well wishes to the other finalists and we look forward to the awards evening.”
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TCS&D 2022 Award Success for Gray & Adams Once again, the TCS&D Awards took place to celebrate and give recognition to all who contribute to the cold chain sector in the UK. Celebrating innovation, customer service and commitment to the industry, manufacturers, logistic partners and Gray & Adams’ suppliers and customers came together at The Midland Hotel in Manchester for an evening of celebrations.
The two awards that were successfully picked up by our team were, Rigid of the Year, which was presented to Ryan Mazgaj from the Gray & Adams sales team and Trailer of the Year, which was presented to Clive Horn, also from the sales team. The evening was especially poignant as this is the 7th consecutive year that Gray & Adams has won the Trailer of the Year category. Andrew Brown, Sales Director, Doncaster, shares with us,
“It’s always a fantastic feeling when the hard work of our sales, manufacturing and design teams are recognised industry wide. Gray & Adams has a commitment to innovation and quality which we have been renowned for since our inception 65 years ago. Gray & Adams is delighted to have picked up two awards and we would like to extend our warmest congratulations to all the other category winners.”
The TCS&D awards, now in its 9th year prides itself on championing the innovators in the sector and all those who keep the temperature-controlled supply chain moving. The evening proved to be a success for Gray & Adams, as well as sponsoring the Rental and Contract Hire Company of the Year category, which was won by our customer, Dawsongroup, the team also celebrated two award wins during the evening.
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Gray & Adams wins BIDFOOD’S Supplier of the Year
Gray & Adams is delighted to have been recognised as Bidfood’s Supplier of the Year at their annual award ceremony. Gray & Adams is delighted to have been recognised as Bidcorp UK’s Supplier of the Year at their annual award ceremony.
Business Impact Award, Account Manager of the Year, New Account Manager of the Year, New Service Manager of the Year, Service Manager of the Year, New Supplier of the Year, and the coveted Supplier of the Year.
Bidcorp UK, which includes Bidfood UK, has been a valued customer of Gray & Adams for over 30 years and is one of the UK’s leading foodservice providers, working behind the scenes delivering food to over 40,000 customers who feed people out-of-home, 365 days a year, in all walks of life, including hotels, restaurants, pubs, workplace, travel and leisure venues, prisons, care homes, hospitals, schools and universities.
Nominations for the supplier awards come from the internal Bidfood team and Gray & Adams is honoured to be recognised for the quality of its builds and the service it provides to Bidfood. This year was the first time that a fleet supplier had been awarded the Supplier of the Year award.
Bidfood is positioned as a one-stop-shop for caterers of all sizes from the smallest independent operator to the largest high street brands, contract caterers, hoteliers and the public sector.
David Wilson, Head of Fleet at Bidfood, said, “This award is testament to the quality of product and service that Gray & Adams provide us. The number of years we’ve worked together speaks for itself. Everybody was pleased to hear that Gray & Adams won supplier of the year, it’s a nice bit of recognition for fleet.
This September, Bidfood hosted its first annual charity golf day and award ceremony for suppliers since Covid struck in 2020. The event raised over £30,000 for Bidfood’s chosen charity, Hospitality Action.
“The Gray & Adams team, specifically Calvin and Jeff, are a pleasure to work with. When I joined Bidfood earlier this year, they were quick to reach out and make sure I had a full induction and have continued to support me and my team with build slots and are always happy to work together to overcome any issues that arise. They are exceptionally flexible to changing deadlines.
Not only that, Bidfood’s suppliers were recognised in a number of categories including:
“We already have over 100 units in the pipeline and are looking forward to our order for 2023/2024 with Gray & Adams.”
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Gray & Adams reaching for a NORTHERN STAR A total of 65 organisations have been shortlisted across 13 categories for what will be the biggest business celebration of 2023.
Every one of our people across all of our UK-wide teams ensure we provide our customers with the most environmentally considerate and sustainable solutions available in our industry. We are proud of our consultative sales process, which allows us to work in partnership with our customers to provide the very best engineering solutions available, therefore the fact we have been recognised for an award in putting our customer first, across multiple industries, is very poignant and Gray & Adams are delighted to be considered.
The ceremony – which will take place at P&J Live on 28 April 2023 – celebrates the exceptional accomplishments of organisations across the North-East of Scotland. Fraserburgh based firm, Gray & Adams has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Northern Star Business Awards in the “Customer First” category. The category is sponsored by Colin Lawson Transport Ltd.
Joint Managing Directors, James and Peter Gray wish all finalists every success for the evening and look forward to the results early next year.
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Williamson Foodservice Case Study Gray & Adams is renowned for servicing customers nationwide, however, we understand how important it is to service clients in the regions closer to home to build on the strong Scotland-based roots of the business. Williamson Foodservice is one such customer, with depots in Glasgow, Inverness and Stornoway. The ethos of Williamson Foodservice is using local suppliers close to their depots to ensure freshness across their product range in the catering and retail industry. In this issue, we speak to Gary Williamson on how partnering with Gray & Adams has proved beneficial for their business model. “I’ve been working with Williamson for over thirty years and I’ve been around the business for much longer where I’ve always been aware of the Gray & Adams product. Most notable is their reputation for providing good service to their customers. We primarily purchase 18T Rigids from Gray & Adams which are the largest vehicles in our fleet. Due to the nature of our work and the remote locations we service, about 50% of our fleet are 7.5T GVW and above– having the right configuration certainly helps when our drivers are transporting goods up narrow and country roads!” Gary explains, “When renewing the fleet, it’s important to keep in mind what is going to work for your business and customers. Price can be a factor, however whole-life costs are more important to us. I would say that getting the right spec is key, which is why working with Gray & Adams works so well. They really pay attention to your business and customer service strategy when designing a solution. They don’t try and push you down the wrong road, for example, I’m aware that Gray & Adams are renowned for their double decks, but this would not work for Williamson Foodservice and they know this is the case, so we don’t feel like we are being pushed down the wrong track with off the shelf products.”
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Of their most recent order, Gary tells us that after receiving some feedback from his drivers, he had an additional request regarding the specification of the Rigids. “We do tend to ask that Gray & Adams include little bespoke items within the specification of the order. The most recent one of interest that we explored with the team is implementing a side mounting rack where drinks dispense gas bottles are kept. These require to be kept separate from the rest of the load for health and safety reasons. It made sense that we took some steps to ensure that they are easy to safely access during delivery, without the driver having to enter the other compartments of the vehicle if it is not necessary. A redesign of the chassis mounted equipment and side crash rails accommodated this requirement. These changes and attention to detail makes our delivery processes safer and more efficient and I was delighted that Gray & Adams was able to incorporate it into the design.” When discussing what is next for the business, Gary shares his thoughts with us, “At Williamson Foodservice it’s important that we keep striving to improve our service and strengthen our existing long-term relationships and we include Gray & Adams in that as a trusted supplier.”
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The BIG Interview Grahame Bennett, Fleet Engineer, Marks and Spencer M&S is a leading British retailer bringing quality, great value food, clothing and homeware to millions of customers. Having worked with Gray & Adams to service customers around the UK, our two businesses have developed a great relationship over the years. In this edition of The BIG Interview, we sit down with Grahame Bennett, to discuss innovation within the industry and the relationship between our two businesses. Tell me about your career to date I joined Marks and Spencer after a long career with The Royal Mail. I’ve always worked in the transport and operations side of the business, with a background in fleet engineering, innovation and working with policies and compliance. I also managed a few RDCs in the Southeast of England which was quite a diverse role from the operational side of things. I then decided to make a change and moved to Marks and Spencer when the opportunity arose. The main difference in the two roles is that I now have to consider the refrigerated trailers for the M&S Food Business, this is where the relationship with Gray & Adams has been invaluable as they give advice that is really impactful and empowers our decision making from the fleet perspective.
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Tell me about the relationship with Gray & Adams I’ve only personally started working with them since I joined the team at Marks and Spencer, but the overall business had a pre-existing relationship with G&A, so I was introduced to the sales team quite quickly. The team at Gray & Adams are supportive and knowledgeable, giving great advice that supports the operational strategy. Coming from another branch of logistics, it’s been a learning curve when dealing with refrigerated trailers and the associated technology but the open and communicative relationship with the team at G&A has been invaluable for managing this. How important is it that you work with suppliers who share the same values as your business? It is important to us, and we also need suppliers who can work with us long term and help us with our planning. For example, Christmas is traditionally a very busy period for Marks and Spencer, so we must ensure we have the resources to react to the demand. It’s important that we have open and trustworthy relationships with our suppliers to manage those periods effectively and I believe Gray & Adams fit that bill.
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“The team at Gray & Adams are supportive and knowledgeable, giving great advice that supports the operational strategy.” How important is innovation and sustainability to Marks & Spencer? We are a hugely innovative business from a product perspective, but the culture of innovation does also flow down to the operational side of the business. We are always looking at new ways to reduce waste and become more sustainable. For example, we are looking at electric and gas fuelled options for our fleet, in particular, we are working with Gray & Adams for the electric rigid body vehicles. Incorporating these options into the fleet tends to present more upfront costs, but we understand that the solution will continue to add value to Marks & Spencer over the lifecycle of the fleet. It’s also the right thing to do, so we want to make an impact. What changes do you believe will face your industry over the next 2 years? Businesses throughout the UK are feeling the effects of the supply chain being squeezed and also a labour shortage, especially with drivers and manual workers such as warehouse operatives. Therefore, I can see businesses looking to become a lot more efficient in their operations and perhaps using data to do so. Marks and Spencer use data across our fleet to help make better business decisions when it comes to purchasing and updating our fleet. The data helps us make decisions around specs for future orders, considering efficiency, driver comfort and the environment the vehicle and trailer will be working in. This helps us futureproof our decision making so I believe this will become more refined in the future, as other ways to gather and use data from the fleet develop.
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Gray & Adams Supplier Spotlight – A conversation with Aerodyne Aerodyne was founded in 1979 and since then, it has been renowned in supplying quality aerodynamic solutions to the industry. Drawing on experience and innovation, Aerodyne has an established working relationship with Gray & Adams. To catch up on the relationship, we speak with Tod Harvey, Head of Sales for Aerodyne. Tell me about your role with Aerodyne This is now my second time as an Aerodyne team member. I first worked with the business from 2001-2008 but I’ve now come back as the Head of Sales this year and I’m getting back into the swing of things with our customers. My role is establishing relationships with our key customers, ensuring we scope their requirements correctly and delivering to the level of customer service that our industry expects. Tell me about the relationship between Gray & Adams and Aerodyne Gray & Adams is the industry leader in building temperaturecontrolled trailers and the brand is well respected and wellknown, therefore the relationship between the two companies was already well established before I joined the business. We work closely with the Gray & Adams sales and design teams, as working with refrigerated units has a particular requirement for aerodynamic solutions, with more considerations to be had than standard fleets and vehicles. It is important that we liaise with Gray & Adams at the beginning of the process in order to ensure that our solutions are fully compatible, so it’s key that the communication and transparency between the two teams is there from the outset and that’s what we love about working with Gray & Adams. The team is great to work with and they are solutions focused, which really benefits us as a supplier.
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How important is it to Aerodyne that you work with customers with similar values to Aerodyne? I would say that this is a key part to doing business with customers and suppliers. Gray & Adams communicate their values clearly, so we have always understood that they put innovation at the heart of everything they do, and they are renowned for putting the customer first. Aerodyne also endeavour to uphold these values in our operation which makes the partnership work smoothly when designing a solution for Gray & Adams customers. What factors do you think are driving the future of your industry? Sustainability is obviously a huge topic of conversation at the moment and it’s something that Aerodyne discuss with customers frequently. Through the implementation of aerodynamic solutions into the trailer or vehicle, we find that we can reduce running costs relating to fuel by upto 10%. We do this through the use of data so we can calculate and predict what the best solution for a customer would be at the design phase which ensures that the fleet operators are getting the best return on investment. On the back of this, we also think how we use data will develop and data will become more important within the industry. Data is something we place a high amount of importance on as we believe it is important to be transparent, but we are interested to see if it can be used in other ways going forward.
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UR PEOPLE ARE THE KEY TO OUR SUCCESS. WITH 65 YEARS OF PASSION AND EXPERTISE, WE ONLY EMPLOY THE BEST PEOPLE ACROSS OUR GROUP. Having worked hard to achieve a reputation for quality, innovation, and first-class customer service, we place a very important emphasis on only attracting and retaining the very best industry talent and ensuring our employees are rewarded for their hard work and dedication to the business. Gray & Adams has a well-established team ready to pass on their expertise to the many who come through our apprenticeship programme, many of whom are highly skilled tradespeople, some of which have worked for the business for 40 years or more and they are dedicated to sharing this knowledge. With such a longstanding commitment to the scheme throughout the group, apprentices are seen as the future of the business. The company has several former apprentices who have succeeded in working their way into specialist or senior positions, a testament to the Gray & Adams ethos of developing and supporting our people, throughout their careers. Gray & Adams is proud of its people, and we are delighted to spotlight some of our team members in this edition. Read more to find out about their careers to date.
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Staff Spotlights Emma Stennett
how the process works from start to finish – how they do it, what they do and what the different parts are used for. In my current role I deal with parts a lot and send them down to the guys in the workshop but I don’t know what they are used for so I think that would be a really fun learning experience.
How long have you been working with Gray & Adams and what is your day-to-day role? In November, I’ll have been working at Gray & Adams for three years. My role is Administrative Assistant in our Dunfermline depot. I came into the role as a school leaver and had seen the opportunity come up online. My role requires me to work closely with the stores department, doing things such as receipting and booking materials onto jobs. I love my role because every day is different. Every day is a school day and I’m forever asking questions to learn from my colleagues who have such a wealth of knowledge.
What is the best thing about working for Gray & Adams? The team is the best thing. Both the office staff and the workshop and stores staff are always there to help. I ask so many questions every day and everyone is so helpful and patient with me. Debbie in reception has been working with Gray & Adams for 25 years and always looks out for me. There’s not much she doesn’t know! Every day is a learning day and I’m proud to be part of such a supportive team that allows me to sponge up as much knowledge as possible from them every day.
What attracted you to the company initially? My dad worked in the resin shop here for 24 years, so I’d always been aware of Gray & Adams as a company and a potential employer. When I saw my job being advertised online, I decided to go for it as I was only 20 at the time and saw it as a perfect starting point for my career. I had studied admin throughout school and so already had some qualifications but was excited to take an opportunity to put the theory I’d learned at school into practice. That’s one of the great things about working here, there are always opportunities to advance your knowledge.
Ian Johnston
Tell us about your greatest achievement whilst working for Gray & Adams
How long have you been working with Gray & Adams and what is your day-to-day role?
I recently finished my level 6 Business and Administration apprenticeship in May this year which was fully funded and supported by Gray & Adams.
I started working with Gray & Adams on 5th November 1985, so almost 37 years! I’ve always worked in the Brakes Department during my time here, starting on the shop floor, moving up to Team Leader then Assistant Manager before being promoted to my current role of Manager.
The apprenticeship allowed me to explore all of the different departments within the business and find out more about what they do and how they work. I worked with a tutor during my apprenticeship who coached me through the coursework required to pass. I sat eight units during the apprenticeship and wrote up reflective essays as part of my ongoing assessment. I gained so much from studying this apprenticeship, it’s really helped me build my confidence in my job.
What attracted you to the company initially? At the time, the firm I used to work with down in Liverpool closed down and one of my brothers was living up in Fraserburgh after coming out of the army. I decided to come up and visit him while I was unemployed, saw the vacancy at Gray & Adams and since I had always been a mechanic to trade, the decision was an easy one. And the rest is history!
The best thing about the apprenticeship for me is that it has allowed me to gain so much knowledge at such a young age. Not only that, but it also shows Gray & Adams’ commitment to my learning and development, being willing to support me through additional training which in turn will allow me to move forward in the business in the future. If you could do someone else’s job (at Gray & Adams) for the day, whose would it be and why? I had never really thought about it. If I had to choose, I’d probably go for a day in the workshop. I would love to see
65th Anniversary
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Tell us about your greatest achievement whilst working for Gray & Adams
Paul Kewley
I have to say that the way we were able to tackle the task of continuing to run during Covid and ensure that we kept everyone as safe as possible during this time is one of my greatest achievements. We split up squads into day shift and night shift with cleaning in between shifts which worked really well.
How long have you been working with Gray & Adams and what is your day-to-day role? I’ve been with Gray & Adams for 25 years and work as Assistant Manager to Ian in the Brakes Department. What attracted you to the company initially?
What current innovation impresses you the most and why?
I’ve always been mechanically minded and had been training to become a car mechanic elsewhere, but the place went under. Luckily, my Father-in-Law already worked for Gray & Adams and has got me an interview.
I’m really impressed with the satellite tracking and telematic systems that we fit. The customer that owns the trailer is now able to see what’s wrong with the trailer before they even bring it into the garage – which parts are faulty and where the trailer is at any time.
I learned everything on the job, it was totally different to working on a car but the other guys on my team taught me everything I needed to know and now I’m passing my knowledge down to the younger generation as they come through.
If you could do someone else’s job (at Gray & Adams) for the day, whose would it be and why?
Tell us about your greatest achievement whilst working for Gray & Adams
I wouldn’t want to do anybody else’s job. I like my job and know what I’m doing.
I would have to say being able to run the operation as smoothly as we did during Covid and the year and half afterwards, with setting up the different shift patterns and making sure everyone stayed safe and was able to keep working.
What is the best thing about working for Gray & Adams? Gray & Adams really looks after us. When I recently lost my mother, Gray & Adams were extremely sympathetic and supported me in taking as long as I needed to grieve.
What current innovation impresses you the most and why? Everything is moving towards being more electrical and more simplified. This innovation means that the brakes and suspension weigh a lot less but do the same job. If you could do someone else’s job (at Gray & Adams) for the day, whose would it be and why? I would love to drive a lorry for the day, I’ve been a passenger before but have never driven one – just for a day though, not long term. I like my job and every day is different. What is the best thing about working for Gray & Adams? The fact that Gray & Adams is a family company at its core means they really look after you and make sure you’re treated well.
Paul and Ian
65th Anniversary
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65th Anniversary
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