Buying group Nisa-Today's has made its first foray into the Republic of Ireland.

Nisa has been supplying one major account in the Republic, the identity of which remains secret, for four months now as part of a trial. The contract represents about 6,000 cases of goods a week.

Expansion into the Republic represented a major opportunity for Nisa, chief executive Neil Turton said this week, and was a logical step since the group already traded significant volumes in Northern Ireland. This meant expanding south of the border would not present any major logistical challenges.

"We are sending about 180,000 cases a week to Northern Ireland, so it is not exactly a problem to send a few more thousand cases across the border," said Turton.

"We are evaluating the business and logistics challenges of extending Nisa's model in the south of Ireland as this shares many similar characteristics with the UK.

"We have recently recruited a business development manager for the north and south of Ireland and are working to evaluate opportunities. No firm decisions on the strategy have been made yet but we are keen to explore every possible opportunity for Nisa to grow."

The Republic could develop into a key market for Nisa and the current trial was part of a continual policy of experimenting to grow the business, he added.

Nisa-Today's was on track to achieve 5% sales growth in the year to March, meeting a target outlined in his first business plan last year, said Turton.

Total sales were expected to hit £1.15bn, with net profit expected to be £3.2m. This was the amount of profit the company budgeted for after servicing the repayments associated with the costs of developing its ambient warehouse in Scunthorpe, he said.

The group was ahead of this target before Christmas and pumped extra money into delivering cheaper prices for its retailers in the run-up to the festive period, he added.

Sales for retailers using Nisa's New Era trading terms are expected to be up 9% over the year.

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