Major Boost for Tyrone Clothes Firm As Sales Rise by Over 30%

Sales at a clothing business making everything from Peppa Pig pyjamas to body armour have soared by more than 30% to £77.6m.

Pre-tax profits at group company Cooneen by Design, based in Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone, also jumped 16% to £6.5m in the year to November 27, 2015.

Cooneen by Design is known for manufacturing children’s clothing and textiles featuring cartoon characters such as Peppa Pig.

Subsidiaries of the group company also include defence uniform specialists Hawk Holdings Ltd, Cooneen Defence Ltd and Hawk Protection, which is incorporated in the US.

Sales at subsidiary Cooneen Defence Ltd – which supplies uniforms for police, military, utility and civilian jobs – were up 30% to £25.9m.

And sales for Cooneen Protection, which produces body armour, shields and helmets, rose by just under 16% to £8.8m.

There were no separate figures available for sales of the children’s clothing arm, which are consolidated within the results for Cooneen by Design.

The company said the business faced risks as its sales were conducted in a range of currencies, with foreign exchange hedging with forward contracts to minimise the risk.

The directors said: “Market conditions have been very competitive in 2015 and will continue to remain so in the current year.

“The directors aim to maintain market share and continue to meet its customer requirements.”

Staff numbers grew from 149 to 154.

The company spent £4.9m on wages and salaries, including directors’ remuneration.

The directors were paid £709,636, with the highest-paid director taking home £244,583.

It paid corporation tax of £1.7m.

The company, which celebrates 50 years in business this year, is owned by Northern Ireland industrialist John B McGuckian.

The firm scooped three awards at this year’s Professional Clothing Awards 2016. The company won best manufacturer/distributor for the Transport for London uniform, and highly commended in the best managed major contract category for the same contract.

It also won a long service to the textile industry award.

Source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk