MIDLANDS-based logistics and cold storage group Oakland International is to expand its workforce as part of an on-going strategy to grow the business.
The Redditch firm is looking to its Southern Ireland operation to fulfil its strategy.
Richard Hill, Oakland’s Ireland general manager, said: “Continued expansion in service offer and new contracts means we need to increase full time staffing within our stock control and general administration departments at the Ashbourne site.
“I am delighted to be recruiting, especially in the current economic climate. We hope to see further recruitment in the near future as we maintain our growth momentum.”
The 30,000 sq ft Ashbourne site in County Meath stores ambient and chilled products ready for delivery to food retailers across Ireland.
“The firm continues to deliver significant opportunities within the Irish retail market, which is service driven,” added Mr Hill.
The firm offers assistance to Irish producers who want to deal with UK retailers already served by Oakland.
The company is now looking to capitalise on retailers concerned with keeping costs down. It said its strong supply chain and flexible operation represented a strong service offering on both sides of the Irish Sea.
A family owned operation, Oakland International was established in the UK in 1998, launching Oakland Distribution and expanding into Ireland in 2009.
Oakland has also appointed a new IT systems support analyst, Hussam Hossien, to work from its Redditch headquarters.
Mr Hossien, right, previously worked for support services group Serco. He will develop the group’s IT infrastructure to benefit both the domestic and Irish operations.
He said: “I am enjoying working with the team to extend our IT service offer. Oakland’s determination to enhance IT functionality by working smarter has already helped identify a number of key areas which we can make more efficient.”
