REDEFINING HOME INNOVATION FOR THE MODERN WORLD
REDEFINING HOME INNOVATION FOR THE MODERN WORLD
TGTECH
PROJECT
DIRECTED BY: JAMIE WAITE
ARTICLE
WRITTEN BY: CATHERINE LAFFERTY
he rolling lush green fields of Worcestershire are rarely associated with world beating innovative industrial designs and products. But it is the home of Grey Technology Ltd. and Nick Grey, its founder and owner. It's quite likely the name Nick Grey rings a bell but it's a certainty that the trading name used by Grey Technology ‘Gtech’, is a household name for many people.
Based in Worcester where he grew up as one of seven children, Nick Grey is the founder/owner of Gtech and it is very much a bleeding edge innovator in its field. His background lies not in the rarified climes of academia and theoretical research but very much in practical problem solving design.
When Grey left Ludlow College, the local sixth form college, he took a job with VAX, the then thriving vacuum cleaner
company. Crucially it was in their design department where he was to thrive and develop as a designer. The next step was to break away and set up his own company.
Initially based in his own home, Grey was to design and develop the world’s first cordless floor sweeper, the SW01 cordless floor sweeper, in 2002. Before long and after a considerable amount of hard work the SW01 went on to be a massive success in both the domestic and European markets.
In the years since Gtech has expanded its range of products adding popular floor sweepers such as the Multi, Pro and HyLite, a range of gardening products such as hedge trimmers and more surprisingly an automated massage bed! More recently the AirRAM, AirRAM K9, AirRAM Platinum and AirRAM 3 cordless
floor sweepers have been added. As well as a range of eBikes aimed at the growing market for similar products.
Not only have Gtech won a number of awards for the innovative designs of their own products they have also designed white gods for other companies. Chances are that you have used a Gtech design even if you do not yet own one of their own products.
From the start Gtech were also pioneering in direct marketing their products combining strategically placed television advertising and a dedicated
website. Unlike many rival companies their customer care is first class and the availability of spare parts and accessories is taken seriously by the company.
The marketplace is however fickle and its locus changes from time to time. Not one to fall behind current trends Nick and Gtech are now placing a growing emphasis on marketing in partnership with influencers. In conversation with us Nick remarked that very often today the shopping experience is completely on line often beginning with a recommendation from a trusted influencer.
Speaking of influencers Nick told us ‘the first thing is just how bright and intelligent they are. And people with good social media following are no different. Bright, super intelligent, and very creative.’ And that Gtech’s approach to working with influencers is ‘pretty like we go about everything. What we always say is we want your honest opinion. Any known problem, even if it's only ever happened once, if we can fix it, we'll fix it. So we say to influencers, say whatever you want about the product, people like your style, they trust you, whatever occurs to you, do that’.
He continued by telling us that, ‘over
recent years the way people choose and buy household appliances has changed at an incredible speed. They trust independent reviews and opinions, even though those are often sponsored. Their entire purchase journey could be on a social media platform. We've realised this game has changed and we don't know anything about these new channels. We're trying to establish ourselves in what is called a digital first approach and finding out what being good at it looks like.’
Having conquered the British and European markets, Gtech is now expanding into the gigantic American
Innovation in delivery
We thrive on innovation and are always looking for the next technological leap forward that delivers more for shippers and shoppers.
We are proud to support Gtech with our innovative delivery service.
What are the key strategies that have allowed DPD to establish itself as a leading courier service in the UK?
Investment and innovation. Over the last 15 years, DPD has consistently invested in its people, its infrastructure and innovation. As a result, DPD now boasts three of the largest automated overnight sortation facilities in Europe, a dedicated International Gateway to support exporters and has added more than 40 brand new, purpose built, state of the art regional depots and distribution centres to its UK-wide network.
successfully since July 2022, using the Cartken robots, which have also since been rolled out in Raunds, Bristol and Lincoln.
Innovation in delivery
We thrive on innovation and are always looking for the next technological leap forward that delivers more for shippers and shoppers.
DPD was the first parcel company to introduce a one-hour delivery window to give recipients advanced notification of exactly when their parcel would be delivered.
We are proud to support Gtech with our innovative delivery service.
Parcel recipients can also access a comprehensive set of ‘inflight options’ enabling them to request a delivery to a safe place or a neighbour if they aren’t going to be home or divert the parcel to one of DPD’s 11,000 plus, Pickup shops and lockers.
How has DPD adapted to the growing demand for e-commerce deliveries in the UK, and what innovations have played a pivotal role in your success?
Creating the scale of operation to handle the volume of parcels has been key and the investment in that network is ongoing. Innovation also means that the operation can work far smarter with greater automation enabling higher volumes of parcels through the network, faster.
Earlier this year, DPD became the first UK parcel delivery company to deploy multi-compartment, fully autonomous ‘Locker’ robots. DPD’s first locker robot was deployed in Milton Keynes, where the company has been operating autonomous robot deliveries
Increasingly the DPD app is now used to enable recipients to tailor their delivery preferences so that their driver is fully briefed before every delivery and can be more efficient. That can include instructions detailing their ‘leave safe’ place including the option to include a photograph of the safe place to help the driver further.
App users can set a preference for deliveries to go to a specific neighbour, and even which neighbours to avoid. Using the DPD App, all consumers can also track their parcel delivery to their doorstep in real time and receive a head's up 'You're next' notification, so there are no surprises.
Customer satisfaction is vital in the delivery industry. How does DPD ensure a seamless delivery experience for businesses and their customers?
For business customers it is about working with them in partnership, to create the best possible delivery service for them and their customers. That includes helping with everything from advising on the packaging to tailoring how we collect their parcels and the data and visibility they have on all deliveries.
In September, DPD won the Customer Care Award for the eighth time in the last ten years at the prestigious Motor Transport Awards – the transport and logistics Oscars.
For parcel recipients, it is a case of constantly refining the service from enabling them to add their precise what3words address so that drivers know the exact building entrance, doorstep, or side passage or creating a ‘More Time
Find out more at innovation.dpd.co.uk | sustainability.dpd.co.uk
Needed’ option on the DPD app to enable customers to specifically flag to their DPD driver that they need more time to get to the door.
As a result, DPD UK topped the Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert parcel delivery customer satisfaction poll for the ninth time in 2024.
What role has sustainability played in DPD’s growth in the UK market, and can you share specific examples of initiatives or achievements?
Sustainability is an issue that DPD has focussed on for many years. DPD has continued to invest in fleet decarbonisation and over a third of its final mile van fleet (close to 4,000 vans) is now electric.
In late 2023, DPD opened its new flagship London sortation facility, with capacity for 500 electric vehicles. This will enable an all-electric DPD delivery service within London’s north and south circular area. DPD UK confirmed in July that it is on target to deliver a 46% reduction in emissions by the end of 2024, equating to a total reduction of 167,664 tCO2e from the 2020 baseline.
What unique value does DPD offer to UK businesses that differentiates you from other courier services?
Talking to business customers and parcel recipients, we know that sustainability is a major concern and our investment in this area is something that truly differentiates DPD. Being sustainability focused is enshrined in our company DNA – our core values – alongside innovation, inclusivity, being ethical and community spirited.
DPD UK’s parent, the Geopost group, now has two key targets, a near-term of 2030 to reduce emissions by 43% and a Net Zero target of 2040. Both targets are fully
validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and have been key to our decarbonisation strategy.
DPD UK has confirmed that the UK operation is on track with the trajectory required to meet the group targets.
How has the partnership with Gtech contributed to DPD’s reputation and success in serving UK businesses?
A large amount of DPD’s innovation and the need to keep improving is driven by business customers. By talking to customers all the time, we understand what they need and what they would like to see happen in future. We don’t operate in isolation. Our job is to be a delivery partner for Gtech and execute that part of their operation in the way that they would expect to it to be fulfilled for their customers. That is a big responsibility, which is why it has to be a real partnership.
Innovation in delivery
We thrive on innovation and are always looking for the next technological leap forward that delivers more for shippers and shoppers.
We are proud to support Gtech with our innovative delivery service.
Fast moving customers like Gtech, push us to innovate and help us to keep coming up with new and better ways of doing things. We have to keep innovating to keep ahead of customer expectations and when you work with innovative companies, that becomes part of the relationship. We want to keep going back to Gtech and saying “we’ve got something new for you…”
What makes Gtech a standout partner, and how has this collaboration strengthened your commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction?
Gtech’s story is genuinely inspirational and a real home-grown British success. Working with smart, fast-moving UK companies pushes us to keep on improving.
market hence in part the turn to partnering with influencers. For Nick; ‘It's a different world and in some ways, we don't suit the modern world. There's lots of hype and lots of kind of, wow, this is amazing. That's not my way. I don't really like my company overselling. I think learning to use other people, influencers in the modern world to test our products and give honest opinions on them is probably the way to go. I see some companies, and I read their claims about their products, and it just makes me laugh because I've tried their products and I know what I think of them as a consumer.’
Gtech and its owner understand that America is unusual in that they buy a lot of corded upright vacuums at a time when most of the developed world has gone to cordless stick vacuums. As a result of this insight Gtech have designed products which will run for a very long time. They are rightly of the opinion that their Air Arm 3 is a pretty good product for America, but have adapted it so that it will be even better for Americans.
Although a company with a growing international profile and reputation, Gtech has deep roots and strong core values. Values which Nick describes, in his
typically pithy fashion, in relation to Gtech’s first product. ‘Modern vacuum cleaners have gotten worse in the last 15 years.. It astonishes me that people put up with it, but it's almost become accepted that vacuum cleaners are disposable within a relatively short time.
I don't think they should be like that. I think they should be usable. The Air Arm 3, we address trying to make it the opposite, that you never need to do any maintenance. That's what we try to do with our products rather than add things which might sound good, but aren't that useful to the consumer, we make our products to do their job.’
Gtech makes it a habit to keep attacking, to keep moving forwards. Much like Brentford FC which has entered into a partnership with Gtech which now sponsors their stadium. Nick’s description of Brentford and its values sounds remarkably similar to the terms in which his own company is often described. We can then take Nick seriously when he tells us that Brentford are ‘Down-to-earth, hard-working, they work as a team, they make a big effort to do things properly and being associated with them is a great honour.’
www.gtech.co.uk