Gray & Adams

General information

Company Background
1957
Gray & Adams Ltd. was formed by Jim Gray & Jim Adams. The company started as a car body repair facility using the skills and experience of the two founding members. Jim Gray was a panel beater / repairer and Jim Adams was trained in the mechanical side of the business.

Late 50s / Early 60s
Gray & Adams produced some of the first insulated containers for the transportation of perishable goods. Although these were much less sophisticated than we are accustomed to today, they are proof that Gray & Adams has always been ahead of its time for innovation. Initially Gray & Adams insulated trailers would have taken the form of a basic dry freight box with insulation bonded behind a second skin and with dry ice used to keep the load cool, as there were no mechanical fridges on the market at the time.

1966
Fraserburgh depot moved to a bigger location (the current site) to enable the company to extend its coverage to embrace the whole of the UK and Ireland.

1976
Dunfermline depot established to provide additional support for customers in Scotland and England.

1981
Although Gray & Adams had been supplying the Irish market since the 1970s, a facility was established in County Antrim to strengthen the companies presence in Ireland and to offer enhanced customer support.

1982
First sliding door trailers manufactured at Fraserburgh.

1988-1990
Fraserburgh underwent its first significant expansion programme in 1988 and then again in 1990, when a panel manufacturing facility was added to cater for the Construction & Use Regulations, which allowed for the introduction of 13.6m trailers.

1990
Doncaster depot established to service customers throughout the midlands and South of England.

Mid 1990s
Jim Adams retired, leaving Gray & Adams to be run by the Gray family.

1992-1994
Various extensions carried out at the Doncaster site. By the end of 1994, the site, which was originally 13,000 sq ft, was nearly 27,000 sq ft in total.

1994
The manufacture of the first Gray & Adams double deck trailers commenced at Fraserburgh.

A fourteen bay extension was built at the Doncaster site to accommodate semi-trailers up to 18m long and to provide additional capacity for the construction of new vehicles and for carrying out comprehensive repair and refurbishment work.

1997
Again, Gray & Adams proved to be ahead its time with the manufacture of the company's first trailers with aerodynamic modifications. This product is known today as the Gray & Adams Eco-Aer but the basic premise was the same back in 1997.

1999
The first custodial vehicles were manufactured at Gray & Adams Ireland. Custodial vehicles are a prime example of how Gray & Adams can develop and implement production of a completely new and highly specified product and quickly become the market leader in that sector.

2000
Fraserburgh site added a 12 acre extension to house a dedicated chassis fabrication unit as well as new advanced CNC machinery for panel production and bodywork assembly.

2000
A new 1740 sq ft workshop was built at Doncaster.

2001
First curtainside trailers built at Gray & Adams Ireland for dairy customers, such as Arla Foods and Dairycrest.

2002
Jim Gray retired leaving the company in the hands of his younger brother, Lewis.

2004
Gray & Adams Ireland added a five bay extension dedicated solely to repair and maintenance facilities.

2006
The replacement of the original car repair shop at Fraserburgh took place to enable it to cater for larger commercial bodywork repairs, such as tractor units and chassis cabs.

2007
A trailer built for Sainsburys earned Gray & Adams a prestigious ‘Quiet Delivery Certificate' from the NAS-PIEK scheme for the development of a low noise trailer that adheres to ‘PIEK Standards'. Gray & Adams is the only trailer/body manufacturer in the UK to have received this award.

Gray & Adams Ireland gained accreditation to BS EN ISO 9001:2000 giving Gray & Adams group-wide accreditation to the standard.

2008
Gray & Adams established a partnership with Ducarbo BV, a group of bodybuilders in the Netherlands. Ducarbo is now responsible for sales, warranty and repairs of the Gray & Adams product in the Benelux region.

2009
In early 2008, Gray & Adams Doncaster bought over a cold store which was located next door to the existing site. In February 2009, the cold store was demolished to increase the site by an additional acre.

Gray & Adams Fraserburgh added a £1.5 million purpose-built after sales and repair facility.

2010
Gray & Adams announced take over of Brycol Ltd., a well established commercial vehicle repair facility based in Bedford, to supplement existing Gray & Adams sites and to enhance the service and support given to the company's increasing customer base.

Manufacturing Capability
Company Background
About Us
Since being established in 1957 in Fraserburgh, Scotland, Gray & Adams has grown substantially and now consists of four well established manufacturing sites within the UK and Ireland. Since the founding of the company, Gray & Adams has evolved as a manufacturer, evidenced by the vast product range and bespoke capabilities.

Traditionally, the core product portfolio included a complete range of refrigerated trailers and rigid bodies but twin and lifting deck trailers now also make up a large proportion of production, both in dry freight and refrigerated configurations. Market demand has also prompted Gray & Adams to diversify the product range to include refrigerated storage solutions, insulated side access loading trailers and mobile shop facilities as well as highly specified chick carrying and prisoner escort vehicles. The range also incorporates the conversion of panel vans for temperature-controlled operations.

A comprehensive after sales support system is also integrated into our portfolio to enhance the lifecycle efficiency of your fleet.

Today, the group turns over in the region of £100 million per year. We supply most of the supermarket chains in the UK and in fact, we are now the only refrigerated manufacturer still supplying Tesco out of an original list of approved suppliers. As well as the high profile retail customers, we supply most major foodservices companies, chilled and frozen food distributors and haulage / logistics companies, as well as leading dairy companies, other food wholesalers / manufacturers and many key parcel delivery companies. Having said this, at Gray & Adams we believe in treating all customers with the same importance regardless of their size or status and the same attention to detail is paid when designing a product for the smallest owner-driver business as is given to the largest logistics operation.

Since Gray & Adams Ireland gained BS EN ISO 9001:2000 certification in August 2007, the company now has group-wide accreditation to the standard, giving customers assurance that they will always receive a high quality, consistent product.

Remaining family owned, we have maintained a traditional approach to business even within the structure of what is now a large enterprise. Gray & Adams' business is always carried out with a personal and hands-on approach but through our unwavering commitment to product, service and site development, we are now at the forefront of the industry as the UK's leading manufacturer of bespoke trailers and vehicles for temperature-controlled and specialised dry freight applications