Britvic’s Irish wholesale division adds 20 jobs

Britvic Licensed Wholesale is adding 20 jobs to its Dublin operation after it signed new contracts to distribute Walkers Snacks and Findlater Wines in Ireland.

The company, which distributes goods to more than 7,000 bars, hotels and restaurants, will also rebrand to Counterpoint.

The new jobs, which will be located at Counterpoint’s head office in Kilcarbery Business Park, are related to customer care and financial accounts functions that were previously undertaken in the UK.

The deal with Findlater Wine & Spirit Group, which is owned by DCC, will add wine brands such as Wolf Blass, Torres and Cono Sur to the Britvic/Counterpoint portfolio.

Walkers Snacks, best known for its eponymous crisps, is owned by PepsiCo, with which Britvic already has drinks distribution agreements.

The company is already a major distributor of packaged beers, with market leaders Heineken, Carlsberg, Budweiser, Becks and Coors Light among the brands it distributes.

Market share
It is also the leading on-trade supplier of soft drinks in Ireland with a 42 per cent market share thanks to its distribution of Club drinks, 7up, Pepsi, Britvic mixers and Cidona, as well as Ballygowan water.

Counterpoint said it would extend its iPad ordering service, currently used by 600 publicans, to more than a thousand customers in the on-trade sector.

“The licensed trade in Ireland has undergone radical change in recent years and we are evolving our business to successfully compete in this new trading environment,” said Counterpoint managing director Finbarr O’Doherty.

At present, the company employs 45 staff directly, with a further 100 people working in its logistics depot.

Parent company Britvic plc, which bought C&C’s soft drinks division – including Ballygowan – in 2007, has cut a number of jobs in Ireland in recent years as the group was hit by recession and product recalls.

The group last week posted an 18.8 per cent rise in operating profits, which rose to £135 million (€161m) in the year to September 29th, as it was buoyed by hot summer weather and a recovery in sales of its Fruit Shoot brand.