Grey Technology Ltd, which uses the trade mark Gtech, is an independent British company designing and manufacturing cordless home and garden appliances such as

vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven. The dirt is collected by either a ...

s, floor sweepers, grass trimmers and

electric bike An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...

s. The company is based in Worcester, Worcestershire.

History

Gtech was founded by Nick Grey, who had previously worked at vacuum cleaner brand

VAX VAX (an acronym for Virtual Address eXtension) is a series of computers featuring a 32-bit instruction set architecture (ISA) and virtual memory that was developed and sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in the late 20th century. The V ...

. Working initially from his Worcestershire home, Nick Grey developed the world’s first cordless floor sweeper, the SW01 cordless floor sweeper, in 2002. Since then Gtech have launched more floorcare products such as Multi, Pro and HyLite, as well as an eBike range, a garden range, and even an automated massage bed. Gtech has also designed several products on a ' white-label' basis for other brands. In November 2012, Grey revealed that Gtech has been subject to several

corporate espionage Industrial espionage, economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security. While political espionage is conducted or orchestrated by governme ...

attempts from rival manufacturers.

Founder

Nick Grey (born 12 July 1968) is the British designer and inventor who founded Grey Technology. Grey was born in

Spetchley Spetchley Hall Spetchley is a hamlet and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, that lies in the district of Wychavon, half a mile from Worcester, along the A44 road. Spetchley contains Spetchley Park, a country mansion with extensive garde ...

, Worcestershire, and attended Aston Fields Middle School. The Grey family spent three years in

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...

, Ireland, before resettling in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

in 1979. Grey studied at

Ludlow College Ludlow College is a sixth form college situated in the heart of Ludlow, Shropshire, England. It now forms part of the Herefordshire and Ludlow College, though retains its own identity. History Its history traces back to the reign of King John ...

. Grey and Gtech are based in Worcestershire. Grey won the Insider Media Limited award for innovation in 2011. He has been profiled by British newspapers, and has been interviewed in the UK press about issues facing start-ups and his own experiences with Gtech.

Products

* SW02 and SW22 Cordless Floor Sweepers * AirRAM and AirRAM K9 Cordless Vacuum Cleaners * Multi and Multi K9 Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaners * Pro Cordless Bagged Vacuum Cleaner * HyLite Cordless Bagged Vacuum Cleaner * Cordless Lawnmower * Cordless Grass Trimmer * Cordless Hedge Trimmer * Cordless Leaf Blower * Cordless Work Light * Electric Bikes * Massage Bed

Media coverage and awards

Gtech's cordless vacuum, the AirRAM, has been reviewed in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', and ''

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independe ...

''. In addition, the '' Good Housekeeping Institute'' has approved the AirRAM, and the Gtech-designed Bissell Versus cordless vacuum was a winner in its 2009 VIP (Very Innovative Products) Awards. Gtech won awards for Excellence in Innovation and Business of the Year at the 2013 Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Gtech official UK website
Manufacturing companies established in 2001 Home appliance manufacturers of the United Kingdom Vacuum cleaner manufacturers British brands Companies based in Worcestershire British companies established in 2000