Fitzwilton is a privately held investment company, today owned by Sir Anthony O'Reilly

Tony O'Reilly

Sir Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly is an Irish businessman and former international rugby union player. He is known for his involvement the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from 1973 to 2009, and as former CEO and Chairman of the H.J. Heinz Company. He was the leading shareholder of...

 and Peter Goulandris through Stoneworth Investment Ltd. It has been involved with many businesses in Ireland, and has been loss-making for much of its history.

Northern Ireland deal

In June 1997 Fitzwilton signed a joint venture deal with Safeway plc which saw 15 of its Northern Irish

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 Wellworths

Wellworths

Wellworths was a supermarket chain, owned by the Fitzwilton trading in Northern Ireland until 1997. Along with Stewarts/Crazy Prices it was one of the two main supermarkets in Northern Ireland until English-based retailers moved into the marketplace....

 stores converted to Safeway outlets. The remaining Wellworths stores were sold to the Musgrave Group

Musgrave Group

The Musgrave Group is a major Irish food wholesaler, founded in Cork by the Musgrave brothers, Thomas and Stuart in 1876. Musgrave Group has become Ireland's largest grocery distributor. Today, the Group has operations in Ireland, United Kingdom and Spain. Musgrave is the largest private company in...

. Safeway's move into Northern Ireland followed that of J Sainsbury and Tesco

Tesco

Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...

; Sainsbury's announced its expansion into the province in 1995 and opened its first store in December 1996, while Tesco opened its first store in October 1996 and purchased Associated British Foods

Associated British Foods

Associated British Foods plc is a global food, ingredients and retail company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its ingredients division is the world's second largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major producer of other ingredients including emulsifiers, enzymes and lactose...

' Stewarts

Stewarts

Stewarts Supermarket Limited was a supermarket chain in Northern Ireland. The chain was purchased by Tesco in 1997. -Stewarts/Crazy Prices:...

/Crazy Prices

Crazy Prices

Crazy Prices was a supermarket chain operating in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland formerly owned by Associated British Foods...

 group in 1997. Fitzwilton objected to Sainsbury's planning applications on the grounds that authorities had "moved mountains" to allow the company's developments to proceed. Fitzwilton was successful in delaying Sainsbury's Coleraine store, but failed ultimately to prevent the development.

Taken private

Fitzwilton plc was de-listed from the stock exchange in 1998 when O'Reilly and Goulandris completed their takeover.

In July 2002 Safeway purchased Fitzwilton's 50% share of Safeway Stores (Ireland) for £45 million.

Today

Fitzwilton's main residual business is Rennicks, a supplier of "road traffic management products", mostly metallic roadsigns but also, eg: Portable Changeable Message Signs (PCMS) for which it holds exclusive marketing rights for Ireland and the UK.