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Pentalver's contract to supply refrigerated containers to the MoD boosted its profits in 2005 - and accounted for a slight dip in 2006. A Southampton-based transport company made so much money from supplying refrigerated containers to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for use in Iraq that the deal provided a significant boost to its pre-tax profit.

Pentalver Transport, which makes  a significant proportion of its income from buying and selling containers, designed the specialist containers which are used by the MoD to store food for troops in places where a power supply could not be guaranteed. The containers incorporate space for fuel and a refrigeration unit that can keep the contents refrigerated for up to four days.

Pentalver MD Brian Tattersall says: "It really boosted our profits because we designed a prototype and thought we might get an order for 20, and then they asked for 200. We wondered whether we could do it at first, but the staff were fantastic."

He explains that the profit made from that deal, which went into the company's 2005 figures, was the main reason why pre-tax profits dropped fractionally in 2006, from £7,495,000 to £7,493,000. At the same time turnover rose from £37.6m to £44.5m.

Pentalver, which is based at Southampton docks, makes less than 20% of its turnover from haulage. Tattersall says: "There is so little  money in it at the moment that we have not been looking to expand it. We make more from containers and our storage facilities than we do from haulage."

However, Pentalver did buy Cannock-based Bowmur Haulage for £7m in 2006. Bowmur currently reports its figures separately under the name Pentalver Cannock, but it will be included in Pentalver's overall figures from next year.