Jim Barry, managing director of The Barry Group, has said offering quality products at keen prices can help retailers to become "recession-proof".


The retail sector has been hit hard by the downturn, with more and more shoppers switching to discounters. Despite that, the Barry Group was able to increase its sales to €212.5m in the financial year ending January 2009, up 4% on 2008, while overall group profit before tax rose to €2.67m.


Based in Mallow in Cork, the company supplies products to more than 700 shops.