The story
In 1858 the company "H.J. Gray & Sons" was founded in Cambridge by Henry John "Harry" Gray, who started manufacturing wooden racquets for Cambridge students, among them Ranjitsinjhi, King Edward VII and King George VI. In 1940 Alison Gray merged the company with hockey stick manufacturer J. Hazells, to form Grays Hockey and also acquired the world-renowned cricket bat business of L.J. Nicolls, resulting in Gray-Nicolls.
The 1980s and 90s expansion meant Grays International had to move the headquarters to larger premises in Robertsbridge, a village in East Sussex, where it remains to this day. The company grew by expanding into clothing and footwear, and by acquisitions including the Gilbert Rugby 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.
From Wikipedia’s article on Grays International, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4