Sir James Dyson in dust-up with ‘country bumpkin’ rival Nick GreyNick Grey denies claims by Dyson that Gtech’s advertising campaigns were misleading
ADRIAN SHERRATTTwo of Britain’s biggest vacuum cleaner makers are embroiled in a legal spat over rival advertising campaigns.
Dyson, run by the billionaire inventor Sir James Dyson, has filed a High Court claim complaining about a series of advertisements by Gtech, founded by Nick Grey, a self-described “country bumpkin”.
Gtech boasted that its new Gtech Pro cordless vacuum cleaner cleaned “15 times longer” than Dyson’s V8. Dyson also complained that Gtech made comparisons between the Pro, where dirt is collected in a bag, and the bagless V8. One of the ads said that bagless vacuum cleaners would “envelop you in a dust cloud every time you empty them”.
Wiltshire-based Dyson said that Gtech’s claims were “untrue and misleading”. It is seeking damages, or profits arising from the ads.
Gtech defended the ads. It said its testing was “fair”, “produced an objective measure” and was “not misleading”. Gtech denied that its claim about bagless vacuums discredited or denigrated Dyson’s brand.
Grey’s company also launched a counterclaim for damages of its own against Dyson for promoting the V8 by saying that it had “more than 10 times the suction power” of Gtech’s AirRam cleaner. The Worcestershire-based company said that this boast was “misleading”. Dyson denied Gtech’s claims.
Dyson, established in 1991, had sales of £3.5bn last year. Grey, who founded Gtech in 2001 and oversaw sales of £120m last year, has described his wealthier rival as an “inspiration”. Yet the two have clashed before.
Dyson has complained to the Advertising Standards Authority over some of Gtech’s campaigns, while Grey told The Sunday Times last year that he believed lobbying of stores by Dyson was partly to blame for poor sales of its AirRam after it launched in 2012.
Dyson said it would not comment on active cases. Gtech could not be reached.
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