Heritage
Grays Waste Services was founded by Peter Gray and began in Deptford, South East London. The year was 1950 and the country was emerging from the hardship following the Second World War. Peter, who began his working life at the age of 14, in the coal mines of Northumberland, had just been demobbed and decided to stay in London. Jobs and money were hard to come by and his first job was drying rabbit skins, for Paul Lewinstein 'the rabbit skin man'. He was redeployed to a job on the road, collecting skins and pheasant feathers and a few batteries on the way. This became a healthy business but it was not to last. In 1953 myxomatosis became prevalent and destroyed the industry. To fill the void, Peter turned his hand to collecting muslin cloth and butchers waste (fat and bone) for rendering. Rendering is the process by which meat waste can be turned into tallow, a name for the liquid fat, and meal, the dry solid residue rich in protein. The tallow was utilised to make candles, soaps and detergents, leather dressing, and lubricants. The meal, rich in protein could be further processed to create pet foods.
Peter became so busy that he asked his brother Jim to join him in the business. Grays Bros was thus born and incorporated in 1953. In 1960, Grays ventured into partnership with the pet food industry, supplying pet food manufacturers all over the UK. By this time the company had moved to Bermondsey, where the business continued to grow. Grays diversified into new business ventures, including industrial boning, meat wholesale and general haulage. Used cooking oils were the next on the agenda. A great quantity of used cooking oil (UCO) was being thrown away down drains and into landfill. Grays began to collect the oil, for reprocessing into biofuels and also as an added ingredient for biodiesel.
A move to Stratford
Grays became the biggest UCO collector in Greater London and the South East. With this expansion another move was on the horizon, and in 1979 a move was made to Stratford, East London, where the business continued to collect waste cooking oil and food waste for conversion into animal by-products. Grays Waste Services was incorporated in 1981 and remained in Stratford for 20 years, in which time the company ventured into refuse collection throughout London, purchasing their own range of vehicles, dust carts and skips. In this period the company formed strategic relationships with some of the UK's largest corporate companies.
The Olympics coming to London
With the Olympics coming to London in 2012, and also the construction of Crossrail, Grays were on the move again, being on the very border of the Olympic Stadium their Stratford site was compulsory purchased. This time they made the move in 2009 to Thamesmead, South East London, a base from which they can grow and form new relationships in the years ahead. The third generation of the Grays family are now taking the business forward, but also continuing to serve some of the original customers who have remained with them from the very beginning, over the past 60 years.