FDBusiness.com

May 29, 2012

Irish family-run company McArdle Transport Ltd has officially announced that it has acquired Skeath Refrigerated Transport Ltd and rebranded the business as McArdle Skeath, in an undisclosed deal.

McArdle Skeath is a reliable and trusted partner among Irish exporters and is now providing integrated logistics solutions for the food, pharmaceutical, blue chip and dry goods sectors in Ireland, the UK and Europe. Specialist services are transportation, refrigeration and storage.

In its 45^th year in business, senior McArdle executives say the transaction is the next phase of the company’s growth strategy and that the deal reinforces its leadership and international experience in all aspects of transport, logistics, warehousing, airfreight, deep sea and supply chain management.

“The forming of McArdle Skeath has been significant for us and our clients, especially at a time when the industry faces many challenges from fuel costs to ever changing regulations,” said Micheal McArdle, managing director, McArdle Skeath. “Our business and Skeath’s business were very compatible and we share the same visions and values which have evolved from listening to the needs of our clients.

Since the acquisition we have also made a significant capital investment in our fleet. In the transport sector most companies have scaled back on capital investments due to increasing pressure on margin caused by high fuel prices; this is very worrying as the average life cycle of a truck is 7 years, which makes our industry extremely capital intensive. For companies that have not or cannot invest, it is often the first signal of underlying problems within the sector.”

In the storage division, McArdle Skeath has also recently  invested in building a new warehouse at its 13 acre site based in Inniskeen, Dundalk, Co. Louth. This expansion brings the company’s total storage capacity to 20,000 pallet spaces and its barcode enabled warehouse management system gives clients full visibility. All stock ordering, picking and loading services are managed by McArdle Skeath.

“Skeath Refrigerated Transport Ltd had been in business almost 40 years and built up a strong reputation and client base in sectors similar to McArdle Transport Ltd,” said Mark Skeath, road freight manager, McArdle Skeath. “The amalgamation has resulted in a combined staff of over eighty people in full time employment and has real benefits to our clients whereby they are now receiving more integrated services critical to supply chain management. This, added to the fact that we are working with such a reputable company as McArdle’s, we could not be more pleased with the acquisition.”

McArdle Skeath is accredited, approved and licensed by IMB (Irish Medicines Board); the Department of Agriculture, Department of Transport, ISO 9001:2008; and the FDA the US Food and Drug Administration, which recently completed a successful audit of the company’s Louth based facilities.

For more information on McArdle Skeath, please visit www.mcardleskeath.com