Breakdown Recovery & Towing, when you need it most
17/02/2022
Operating with 13 trucks in its fleet, Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services offers its customers a wide range of rescue and recovery services for all types of vehicles including cars, motorcycles, vans, buses, trucks and heavy goods vehicles. Irish Trucker touched base with its owner Roy Kearney to learn all about this young and thriving business.
Up and running just 12 months, Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services in Co Cork has managed to hit the ground running – even in the midst of a global pandemic.
In fact, it was the Covid-19 pandemic, and the government lockdowns which followed in order to combat the spread of the virus, that brought about the birth of the company.
With the government restrictions which were put in place from March 2020, Roy Kearney’s luxury coach hire company ‘Kearney’s of Cork’ would see its business practically shutdown overnight.
Never one to sit idle, the Rebel County native had Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services up and running within just a couple of months, as he explained to Irish Trucker himself recently.
“We’re based in Waterfront Business Park, Little Island, Co Cork and the company was formed 12 months ago,” he said.
“We have 15 staff and it’s myself and my wife Linda that oversee the business together.”
In the short space of a year, Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services has already started to grow a reputation in the area as being a fast, friendly and comprehensive vehicle recovery and towing service company which also specialises in general haulage.
It offers customers a 24-hour towing and roadside assistance throughout county Cork, with a range of vehicle rescue services.
The company’s fleet is made up of 13 state-of-the-art recovery trucks and those behind the business boast years of experience in the auto industry to consistently deliver clean, damage-free towing services ensuring the peace of mind you deserve.
The fleet of specialised tow trucks and transport vehicles guarantees that Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services can provide recovery and towing services, as well as general haulage and container services to anyone, regardless of the make, model or size of the vehicle.
At the moment, general haulage accounts for about 70 per cent of the business Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services has on-going at the moment, being ideally located beside Cork Port
Such busy times had been the vision for Roy Kearney when he first set-up shop in the summer of 2020.
So far, the plan has gone very much according to script and the new venture has even, dare say, exceeded expectations.
“Originally, Kearney’s of Cork was a very successful bus and coach hire company with over 100 vehicles at one point,” Roy explained.
“When Covid hit, we looked to diversify into recovery and haulage and decided to put a few trucks on the road and it has taken off from there.
“Shipping companies were happy with what we were doing and now, 12 months down the line, we have 13 trucks on the road and things are very busy.”
The latest addition to the fleet at Waterfront Business Park is a Renault T520 Hicab which, as Roy explained, has been fantastic for the company since first taking it out the gates.
Given the current rate of business, there could well be more trucks on the way next year for the company.
“We bought a new Renault T520 Hicab off Munster Vehicle Sales and, I have to say, it has been excellent for us so far,” said the MD.
“We have two more of them ordered now for the start of next year and we’d like to thank Adrian McElvaney for supplying the first seven trucks for this company from McElvaney Motors Scania in Monaghan.”
As for Kearney’s of Cork, the easing of government restrictions will hopefully eventually see a return to normality for the business which has been in operation since 1968 when Roy’s father, Anthony Kearney set it up.
“Kearney’s of Cork is still there,” Roy outlined. “Once Covid came into play, the business went from the top to the bottom very quickly.
“We were operating about 50 vehicles for school runs alone, so hopefully we can get back to that and get back to some sort of normality in the near future.”
So, the burning question is what has been the secret to such quick success for Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services in the space of just 12 short months?
As Roy pointed, the Kearney name is a trusted one in the area when it comes to reliability and getting the job done right. Therefore, when Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services was established, people knew it was a company that they could rely upon.
“I think it’s because so many people knew the work that we provided and knew that they could put their trust in us to be there for them,” he said.
“When Little Island Recovery was first set-up last year, it took about three to four months to take off. We have a proven track record here and, right now, we’re very busy thankfully.”
Looking towards the months ahead and into 2022, Roy is as optimistic as ever in spite of the challenges that are out there at the moment.
Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services’ first year in business has been a resounding success and the busy times look set to continue for some time to come.
As Roy himself puts it, the company is currently operating with a fantastic office staff as well as a fantastic set of drivers.
The future looks bright indeed.
“Our hopes here for the coming months would be to keep going the way we are going at the moment.
“All we can see is a very bright future as we’re very busy now right now and, to highlight that point further, we are actually turning away work as it is,” he concluded.
Little Island Recovery & Haulage Services
Waterfront Business Park
Little Island,
Co Cork
T45 D883
Tel: 021 423 2252
E-mail: [email protected]
Published in Irish Trucker & Light Commercials magazine, February/March 2022, Vol 25 No 1
