AN Irish manufacturer of timber packaging and pallets has achieved more than 100% growth, with its decade-long partnership with IPP – a pooler of wooden pallets – described as being a ‘major’ contributing factor.
CJ Sheeran, based in Mountrath, Co. Laois, credits its collaborative partnership with IPP for boosting its balance sheet and the circular economy on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Despite economic challenges, including the rising cost of timber, the relationship between the two partners has enabled them to achieve a hike in pallet recovery from 91 to 98%.
Sheeran’s has recently invested in a new sawmill to further develop its pallet repair services across the Republic of Ireland and moved to a 20-acre site to further help IPP and consolidate the growth in the future of both enterprises.
David Bage, operations director for IPP, said, “In 2016, we set up our main sortation depot in Mountrath and a satellite depot in Dublin. In the same year, we built upon our relationship with CJ Sheeran to operate our pallet sort and repair facilities, be our logistics partner and our repair timber supplier in Ireland.
“Since then, Sheeran’s has grown significantly in terms of their own business, taking on new sites and expanding their operations. In parallel, we also started to use Sheeran’s to deliver OWT (one way trip) pallets to our customers and collect empty pallets from retail.
“This was a mutually beneficial relationship that allowed IPP to improve our pooling model in Ireland and allowed Sheeran’s to expand on their white pallet business – this mainly allowed synergies on transport to remove empty mileage.”
Fergal Moran, business development director for CJ Sheeran, added, “The relationship with IPP and how we worked so collaboratively to keep goods flowing during Covid has truly blossomed both in Ireland and the UK. We have a strong partnership that is based upon complete trust and one that allows for the sortation, repair and delivery of pallets across Ireland. This means that when we grow, so does IPP, and vice-versa.”
