Trading was subdued in 2023 for Craigavon-based transport firm Derry Refrigerated Transport (DRT), with sales flat and profits showing a slight decrease, its latest set of filed accounts reveal.
The company, which supplies virtually every major food service and wholesaler across the island from its 70,000 sq ft Carn cold store facility outside Portadown, seen revenues stick at £20.1 million over the year, while its pre-tax profit fell from £2.49m to £1.88m.
On a bottom-line basis, retained profit dipped to £1.17m from £1.93m a year earlier, but staff numbers grew from 56 to 65, pushing up the firm’s wages bill to more than £1.9m.
DRT, founded in 1999, is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tivanagh Holdings, and its ultimate controlling party is Patrick Derry, a former finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition.
With depots in Armagh, Dublin and Cork, DRT provides all-island refrigerated distribution on a 24 hour basis, utilising a fleet of more than 140 fridges and 100 trucks and refrigerated vans.
Owner Derry left school at 15 and worked on a fruit market in Belfast before, at the age of 19, he identified an opening in distribution as larger UK supermarkets began replacing the conventional food markets.
The company’s steady growth over the last few years has largely come on the back of its £9 million investment in its Carn cold store.
