Grays International is an English

sports equipment Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since th ...

manufacturing

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

based in

Robertsbridge Robertsbridge is a village in the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge, and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Hastings and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Royal Tunbridg ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. The company was founded in 1858 by Rackets champion H.J. Gray, producing equipment for

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, through its brands and subsidiaries. It has a sister company, "Gray-Nicolls Sports Pty Ltd.", based in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, Australia.

History

In 1858 the company "H.J. Gray & Sons" was founded in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

by Henry John "Harry" Gray, who started manufacturing wooden racquets for Cambridge students, among them

Ranjitsinjhi Colonel Kumar Sri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was an Indian cricketer who later became ruler of his native Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 ...

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

and

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

. In 1940 Alison Gray merged the company with

hockey stick A hockey stick is a piece of sports equipment used by the players in all the forms of hockey to move the ball or puck (as appropriate to the type of hockey) either to push, pull, hit, strike, flick, steer, launch or stop the ball/Hockey puck, puc ...

manufacturer J. Hazells, to form Grays Hockey and also acquired the world-renowned cricket bat business of L.J. Nicolls, resulting in

Gray-Nicolls Gray-Nicolls is an English cricket equipment and clothing brand and is a subsidiary of Grays International. Gray-Nicolls founded in 1855. Formed as a result of merger between two companies, Grays and Nicolls, the company is based in Robertsbridge, ...

. The 1980s and 90s expansion meant Grays International had to move the headquarters to larger premises in

, a village in

, where it remains to this day. The company grew by expanding into clothing and footwear, and by acquisitions including the

Gilbert Rugby Gilbert Rugby is a British sports equipment manufacturing brand, specialising in rugby union and netball. The company is mostly known for its rugby union balls, having been official supplier for every World Cup since 1995. History One of the old ...

brand, which doubled the size of the company in 2002. In 2019 the company resumed the manufacture of wooden lawn tennis racquets. It is still run by members of the Gray family.

Brands and products

Each brand of Grays International is focused on one sport:

References

External links

* {{Running shoe brands Sportswear brands English brands British companies established in 1858 Manufacturing companies established in 1858 Sporting goods manufacturers of the United Kingdom Companies based in Cambridge Tennis equipment manufacturers 1858 establishments in England