Exclusive:
Despite his Gtech business boasting a £40million annual turnover, inventor Nick Grey says doing so is important for maintaining a decent work/life balance
The millionaire boss of a leading home gadget maker has revealed he has a self-imposed ban on all work emails and phone calls from mid-afternoon on a Friday until after the weekend.
Despite his Gtech business boasting a £40million annual turnover, inventor Nick Grey says doing so is important for maintaining a decent work/life balance. The dad-of-four said: “I rarely answer an email or do anything between 2pm on a Friday until Monday morning.
“I won’t open my laptop, I won’t hit the email tab on my phone. That’s me done. If anyone really needs me they can call my mobile, though I may or may not answer it. I’m not someone who has their mobile with them at all times.”
Explaining the approach for his 170-strong workforce, he says: “It’s not that I tell them to switch off, it’s just that I don’t put any pressure on them. Occasionally you need something done at weekends but they get time off. Other than that there is no culture of working silly hours.”
Bromsgrove-born Nick founded Gtech in 2001 – initially working out of his garage – after a successful career at vacuum cleaner maker Vax. He found school “boring” and didn’t go to university, then started working on a building site. But he saw an advert for a job at Vax where he thrived, going from sweeping-up to being in charge of engineering. After 12 years, he made the choice to go it alone. “At that time I was on 50 grand and had a nice company car and it seemed a lot money but I handed it back,” he says.
Starting off on his own, he launched a sweeper and took on his first four workers – three of whom he still employs. Gtech now makes a host of home appliances, including its best-selling AirRAM vacuum cleaner through to lawn mowers, electric drills and even a massage bed.
Though its products are made in the Far East, they are designed in the UK, with its base in Warndon, Worcestershire. Asked whether he would manufacturer in the UK, he says: “I would love to. When I first started at Vax I’d go downstairs to the production line.” He said wage costs made it unviable: “It would be fantastic if we had a cat’s chance in hell of that happening again.”
Gtech was last valued at £65million but Nick, who drives an electric Porsche and owned a holiday home in Devon until his divorce, says he has no intention of selling. “I get offers to sell weekly – I never rely to them,” he says. “It is a labour of love for me. It’s my life’s work. It’s almost like a fifth child. I thoroughly enjoy coming in every day.”
As well as new products, his next push is into the US, which kicked off in July. He explains: “It’s slightly better than expected but it’s certainly not easy.”
Aside from work and his kids, one of his other big passions is football. Growing up a West Brom fan, he has switched his allegiance to Premier League team Brentford after securing the naming rights for its West London stadium two years.
Given any mention of the Brentford Community Stadium, it is perhaps no surprise Nick’s favourite TV programme is now Match of the Day.