JOE Sloan, the founding director of SHS, the northern Ireland company that purchased Merrydown Cider last week, earned over 3.4m in salary and dividends in the year to March 2004, according to accounts filed in the Companies Office. It is understood that Sloan was the highest paid director at SHS, which owns the WKD alcopop brand, and took home £1.8m in the year.

The highly acquisitive SHS is owned by the families of Sloan and co-founder Geoff Salters. In 2004 the firm bought Clayton Love Distribution, the food distributors owned by John Mulhern, for a sum believed to be in the region of 4m.

SHS, based in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, made annual sales of £254m and pre-tax profits of £19.2m in 2003.

JOE Sloan, the founding director of SHS, the northern Ireland company that purchased Merrydown Cider last week, earned over 3.4m in salary and dividends in the year to March 2004, according to accounts filed in the Companies Office. It is understood that Sloan was the highest paid director at SHS, which owns the WKD alcopop brand, and took home £1.8m in the year.

The highly acquisitive SHS is owned by the families of Sloan and co-founder Geoff Salters. In 2004 the firm bought Clayton Love Distribution, the food distributors owned by John Mulhern, for a sum believed to be in the region of 4m.

SHS, based in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, made annual sales of £254m and pre-tax profits of £19.2m in 2003.