Britain must fight invasion of foreign products

Gtech: Britain must fight invasion of foreign products

British innovation firm Gtech has announced an aggressive growth plan in response to the rapid rise of its overseas competitors.

Gtech is looking to win a higher proportion of the floorcare market through its new strategy.

The Worcestershire-based firm was launched by Nick Grey in 2001 and enjoyed steady growth with products such as the award-winning AirRAM vacuum.

However, Nick, who invented the cordless carpet sweeper, said that in recent years a large proportion of market share has been swallowed up by overseas competitors such as Shark and Vax, both owned by Chinese firms, and Singapore-based Dyson. Even Hoover are now part of Chinese multinational firm Haier.

“Many people think these are British brands but, in fact, they are all based overseas,” said Nick.

The invasion began 30 years ago when factories in China began approaching UK brands offering to make their products at a fraction of the cost of manufacturing them here in the UK. Back then, Hoover and Vax were market leaders and most of the vacuum cleaners sold in the UK were designed and manufactured here in Britain.

“Once the UK production lines and supply infrastructure were gone the prices rose and the super-manufacturers began to form,” explained Nick.

“The manufacturers in China used the knowledge and designs they’d learned from local companies to offer copycat products to the UK retailers on an own-brand basis at very competitive prices.

“This squeezed the brands who fell like dominoes, being bought one after the other by the same Chinese manufacturers.

“Today, Gtech is surrounded on all sides – as far as I can recall, only Henry and Gtech are British companies,” said Grey.

“Even Dyson, seen as a bastion of British brands has understandably fled to Singapore lured by the 17% company tax rate.

“Gtech currently has 4% of the UK floorcare market. We want to get to at least 10% quickly, with plans to take an even bigger share after that.”

The growth strategy includes returning to some of the high street’s most popular stores in the coming months, with plans for new products also in the pipeline.

“We are very confident that Gtech products represent the best money can buy, but we also know that we need to be more widely available – many consumers prefer to buy from British companies, so it is important they have that option,” explained Nick.

Gtech’s brand awareness has been boosted by the Gtech Stadium, home of rising Premier League stars Brentford Football Club.

He added: “This is an important time for Gtech – all the Worcester staff are working together to increase our market share.”

The plan marks considerable growth for Gtech, which has its headquarters in Worcester. Earlier this year, the firm invested £6 million in its own warehouse in Corby.