Building a partnership to be proud of: Gray & Adams and McConaghy’s Refrigerated Distribution

McConaghy’s Refrigerated Distribution from Ballymoney in Country Antrim have been in operation since 1992 and has been purchasing bespoke, temperature-controlled vehicles from Gray & Adams (Ireland) since 1998. Originally, the team had seen Gray & Adam’s industry-renowned products on the road or in operation with hauliers and were impressed at their robust and sturdy build quality. This led them to engage with the Gray & Adams team and they have been working collaboratively for over 20 years.

The brief given to Gray & Adams for their most recent purchase was for a high specification 26 tonne GVW rigid mounted on a new Renault T series chassis which included a full high roof sleeper cab. Features on the rigid body include an 18-pallet capacity, underslung refrigeration unit due to the high cab, internal variable stow bulkhead, fully retractable tail lift and some additional side and rear marker lights.

In order to enable the fitting of the rigid body to the chassis, the Gray & Adams team created a bespoke solution for McConaghy’s which met this unprecedented requirement. Working closely with the local Renault dealership, Gray & Adams were able to request the repositioning of the fuel tanks and an uprated front axle capacity during the vehicle production phase to accommodate the refrigeration unit. Richard McConaghy, Managing Director at McConaghy’s Refrigerated Distribution, explained more about the relationship between the businesses, “Gray & Adams products are the best in the industry that we have come across – especially their rigid body. The attention to detail and build quality is exceptional, their products are robust, and they hold temperature well. These are all things that we highly value and expect from the investments we make in our fleet. Gray & Adams products are also extremely hard-wearing, easy to maintain and durable. We’re running one rigid which is 13 years old and it’s still performing really well.” “As businesses, we have a similar philosophy around quality and service and we both operate around the ethos that we never overpromise and underdeliver. The quality of the Gray & Adams build also translates to the look of the product and it is a great advertisement for our business. We are always noticed for our excellent customer service, but we also stand out for the way we present our fleet and drivers too. We can’t wait to get this new vehicle out on the road and showcasing our business.” “The customer service we have received from Gray & Adams over the years is outstanding. From the day we started building this new rigid, they invited me to the workshop several times to check in at every stage to ensure we are happy with each element of the build. Being kept involved and having an open and honest style of communication gives us complete transparency throughout. Aside from our belief in their products, the trust we have in the Gray & Adams team is largely because of the way they do things – they do things the right way and this creates added value within our partnership.”

Proud Partnership: Armstrong Logistics and Gray & Adams

Gray & Adams’ customer, Armstrong Logistics, are a growing UK business working primarily within the discounter supermarket sector, and they have recently just placed a large order of 40 Gray & Adams trailers this year. We caught up with Operations Director, Neil Watton, to talk about the successful relationship between our businesses.

Armstrong Logistics has been a thriving UK business for 26 years and have managed to stay fully operational throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The business has grown significantly over the years, growing from 1 site to 4. Armstrong have recently moved their HQ to a new site that boasts 50 loading bays to maximise their customer capacity, and operational efficiency. The business is robust, efficient and forward thinking which makes them an ideal match to their customer base. This means, when choosing a partner to build their trailers, they looked to Gray & Adams. When discussing the value that Gray & Adams trailers have brought to the business, Operations Director, Neil, tells us, “I’ve worked for Armstrong for around 7 years now and prior to that I was in the logistics team at Aldi so I’ve always been aware of Gray & Adam’s trailers and the quality of the build, quite frankly they would be my first choice for refrigerated trailers. The longevity is second to none and I can regularly get 10 – 15 years out of a G&A trailer which makes them worth every penny in my opinion. I’ve been in this industry for a long time and whenever we’ve used other trailers that are not Gray & Adams built, they just don’t last as long, and they can’t handle as much knocking about!” Both businesses pride themselves on their customer service and Armstrong Logistics felt that using companies with similar values in their supply chain would contribute towards the reputation for customer care that is at the core of their operations. When discussing this, Neil gave us some further insights, “Apart from the quality, I keep coming back to Gray & Adams because I feel that their customer service is first class and it’s something that we at Armstrong also try and emulate.”

He goes on, “I’ve found the sales team to be really friendly and they treat you like a trusted partner which is great. I’ve been to trade shows and visited their stand over the years and even the times where I wasn’t placing an order, they still treated me as a valued part of their business and it’s those sorts of touches which make me want to deal with them again and again. We’ve just placed a large order of 40 trailers, the biggest so far but I can’t see any reason why I wouldn’t go back for further orders over the coming years”.