Gray & Adams

Without access to skilled Polish labour, Gray & Adams would struggle to meet demand for its refrigerated and dry freight trailers and vehicle bodies.

The Fraserburgh-based company has built an industry-wide reputation for superior build quality and efficiency during its 50 years in business and supplies large customers including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons with refrigerated trailers that carry goods across the country.

But as business has expanded, finding the right skills locally has become increasingly tough. Gray & Adams project manager Derek Buchan describes how the company first started recruiting from Poland two years ago.

"With an increasing order book from customers, we needed to get the labour force in place but were having great difficulty finding skilled people locally," he explains.

"One of our directors had heard about a company operating in Aberdeen who had used an agency based in England. We approached the agency and they had an office in Poland. Our production director and one of his assistants went across to Poland, interviewed 60 to 70 people and selected 30."

The new recruits included welders, joiners, electricians, refrigeration engineers and mechanical engineers who were on site and working at Gray & Adams within one to two weeks.  Buchan admits their learning curve was pretty short, but their contribution was essential.

"There was a skilled labour gap locally. If we had been unable to fill that gap, we would have been disappointing our customers and probably turning away business."

Since then, Gray & Adams has more than doubled its Polish headcount to 70, again through an agency. The company contracts the agency for six months to recruit the staff and find them accommodation in Fraserburgh, and after six months has the option to employ the workers directly.

"One of our refrigeration engineers (Michal Cudak) is now working in our drawing office," Buchan explains. "We've been struggling to find candidates who are CAD (computer-aided design) draughtsmen and although this chap came across here as an engineer, he's now in our drawing office. We're also looking to promote some of the other foreign nationals because of their suitability for supervisory roles."

Their work ethic has generally been very good and attendance is not an issue, Buchan says. Language was something of a barrier in the early days, but recruiting a Polish girl who speaks very good English has helped enormously.
"We took her on as a receptionist but in the afternoons she helps me with communication and welfare issues for our Polish workers," Buchan explains. "We also pay her to teach them English two nights a week."

The company employs around 450 at Fraserburgh and also has sites in Dunfermline, Doncaster and Ireland. In the last four years Gray & Adams has invested £6m in its Fraserburgh manufacturing facility, including the purchase of advanced CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machinery from leading European suppliers for panel production and bodywork assembly, meaning the company now has the most modern panel production facility in the UK.

Contact

Derek Buchan
Project Manager
Gray & Adams
South Road
Fraserburgh
Aberdeenshire
AB43 9HU

Tel: 01346 518001
Fax: 01346 517345
Email: d.buchan@gray-adams.com
Web: www.gray-adams.com