BALLYMENA soft drinks manufacturer Norbev is raising a glass to massively increased sales as it continues to focus on a transformation strategy drawn up after Covid.
Latest figures filed at Companies House show turnover in the 2022 calendar year fizzed by 48 per cent, soaring from £24.4 million to £35.9 million.
The continuation of established contracts and improved operational efficiencies also supported an increase in profitability over the year.
Pre-tax profits more than doubled from £301,396 to £778,614, and after taxes, Norbev retained £633,425.
Net assets at the company - set up in 1919 when it washed, labelled and corked glass bottles by hand at an old laundry business - now stand at more than £4.3 million.
The firm's payroll, which shrunk significantly during Covid, edged up again from 86 staff in 2021 to 89 last year, and its wages bill rose to £3.8m.
Norbev, formerly known as Northern Bottlers, has two listed directors in James Harkness (59) and Shona Blythe (45), who were paid a combined £203,299 (up from £186,750).
The accounts show a total tax charge of more than £145,000 in 2022 compared to a credit of £153,000 the year before.
Norbev moved to its current site on Ballymena's Railway Street in 1961 and welcomed its first bottling contract with Coca Cola in the early 70s.
The company also blends and bottles drinks for customers including pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, which also makes Lucozade, and it exports to the Republic and the Netherlands as well as to America.
Over the years the company has attracted many high profile contracts including being the chosen UK producer of Hollywood actor Will Smith's Just Water brand, founded by him and son Jaden to help combat ocean plastic pollution.
