Founded in 1999 by Donal Garrihy and Pete Smyth, 2468 Group began as a small water cooler business called Aqua Filter Ltd operating across Ireland and the UK. What started as a specialist hydration company has since evolved into one of the leading workplace break and refreshment providers in the region, serving thousands of customer sites across offices, logistics hubs, factories, healthcare environments, gyms, and public spaces.
Over the years, we expanded steadily through innovation, acquisitions, and a growing understanding of workplace culture. In 2003, we rebranded as Wild About Water, focusing on water coolers, boilers, and taps. By 2010 and 2012, we had significantly grown through acquisitions including Nestlé’s PowWow watercooler division and Jede AB’s coffee operations, alongside the Deep River Rock watercooler business from Coca-Cola. These milestones allowed us to diversify into coffee, vending, washroom services, and workplace refreshments.
The 2468 brand officially launched in 2014, bringing together all its workplace services under one identity. Since then, we have continued expanding throughout Ireland and the UK, adding new operations hubs and specialist vending businesses. Recent acquisitions such as Vending Solutions Ltd, SuperCups Vending, Apple Vending, Premier Vend, and Quench Me have strengthened our national footprint and helped grow our business to nearly 300 employees.
Today, 2468 Group operates across more than 9,000 customer locations with a fleet of over 180 service vehicles and thousands of workplace installations. Our services include coffee solutions, vending, micro markets, water systems, washroom products, snack stations, recharge zones, and complete break-room fit-outs.
What truly separates us from traditional vending or refreshment providers is our philosophy: “Making Breaks Matter.” Rather than seeing workplace breaks as downtime, we believe breaks are essential moments that improve employee wellbeing, motivation, collaboration, and productivity. A well-designed break space helps employees recharge mentally, connect socially, and return to work more focused and engaged.
At 2468 we feel modern workplaces are changing rapidly. Businesses today face challenges around burnout, staff retention, engagement, and workplace culture. We truly believe break spaces are not simply convenience areas, but strategic business assets that can improve morale and performance. Our approach combines workplace design, refreshment services, data insights, and customer behaviour analysis to create environments tailored to how employees actually work and relax.
This focus matters because employee wellbeing increasingly affects business success. Extensive research we have discovered suggests that regular breaks can improve productivity, reduce stress, encourage collaboration, and help organisations retain talented staff. For employers competing to attract and keep workers, investing in quality workplace experiences has become an important differentiator.
Partnership and customer service have been a core part of our growth. Many of our clients have worked with us for years, and businesses including logistics providers, corporate offices, and facilities management companies have praised our reliability, responsiveness, and ability to create motivating workplace environments.
From a small water cooler company in 1999 to a modern workplace experience business operating across Ireland and the UK, we have built our success around one simple idea: when employees feel valued and refreshed, businesses perform better. Our mission to “make breaks matter” reflects a growing understanding that even small moments during the workday can have a major impact on culture, wellbeing, and long-term business performance.
