Armagh Company SOS Sales Ltd is celebrating having agreed an exclusive multi million-pound contract to supply GRW tankers from South Africa into Ireland and the UK.
The business, which employs seven staff across two sites in Armagh and at Ellesmere Port in England was set up by local man James Scallon twenty years ago in 2003.
As a result of the new partnership with GRW, a leading transport equipment designer, manufacturer and service provider of state-of-the-art tankers and trailers, SOS Sales Ltd will now become the authorised dealer of GRW liquid tankers to industry and private sector across UK, Ireland and further afield. SOS Sales Ltd will focus on the provision of the full range of GRW liquid ADR tanker products which includes specialised liquid tankers for food and chemical transportation including hazardous liquids which can be held.
In October, SOS Sales Ltd team visited GRW at their company headquarters in Worcester, Western Cape, South Africa and met with owner Gerhard van der Merwe who created the company with the mission to build world-class road tankers.
Following a tour of the state-of- the-art manufacturing facilities, SOS Sales Ltd has now signed a contract to act as an authorised distributor for GRW here and has placed an £8 million order for tankers the first of which will which have now arrived. A second order for 100 tankers has also been agreed, to be delivered in 2024-25.
The partnership which is supported by Danske Bank makes SOS Sales Ltd the largest customer to GRW in UK and Ireland and will see the company, which has recently moved to new offices in Armagh, bring the flagship specialised liquid tankers to the private sector clients.
Commenting on the partnership with GRW, SOS Sales Ltd Chief Executive James Scallon, said: “We are thrilled to have GRW as a strategic partner to SOS Sales Ltd and are delighted to lead their distribution within Ireland and the UK to industry. As a local business, and provider of new and used tankers and trailers across the globe, we strive to provide and source for our many customers the best in class within tankers, and we know GRW has one of the world’s most advanced liquid tanker manufacturing plants in the world.
“This partnership underpins our focus in SOS Sales Ltd on excellence and we are delighted to have agreed the first suite of tankers which have started to arrive in Armagh, with more enroute to Belfast port. Sales are already in place for several of the first fleet, so popular is GRW as a manufacturer.”
Gerhard van der Merwe, CEO of GRW welcomed the partnership with SOS Sales Ltd adding: “We are very pleased to announce the new partnership with SOS, our working relationship
with James and Lee span over many years. We are very excited to be back in the UK and Irish market to supply our existing and new customers with high quality tankers.
“Our tankers have proved their superior structural integrity over many years dating back as far as 2006. Our expanded product offering includes petroleum, ADR and food grade liquid and dry bulk tankers. SOS will provide the after sales service to ensure optimal up time for our products”.
Based in Armagh, SOS Sales Ltd is a major UK provider of new and used tankers and trailers to a wide range of customers and industry worldwide and use a network of reputable shipping agents and movers.
Alongside GRW, SOS Sales Ltd is a leading provider of Road Tankers Armagh rigid built products, for the rigid market. With two main operating basis in the UK, in Armagh, and Ellesmere Port, the company is heavily invested in the community, sponsoring Armagh Rugby Club, Armagh Royal School, and Daniel Kilpatrick Karting.
