Perthshire bottled water firm sees profits flow

HIGHLAND SPRING: Company has invested £30m into its bottling operation

Drinks firm Highland Spring has invested more than £30 million into increasing bottling capacity at its Perthshire plant in the past two years.

The Blackford-based company retained its position as the country’s largest bottled water producer as the UK market grew by around 13% last year.

The firm’s pre-tax profits increased from £4.3 million to £4.9m as turnover topped £100m for the third year.

Posting the annual results, group finance director Mark Steven said: “Our operating profit for 2016 was £5.6m.

“This was achieved through efficiencies derived from an improved sales mix and higher utilisation of our core bottling resources.

“During 2016 and 2017 we will have invested in excess of £30m in increasing bottling capacity to meet current and anticipated market demand.

“This enabled the installation of two new production lines at our Blackford facility, including the fastest, most technologically advanced PET bottled drinks line in the UK.”

This summer the firm advertised on television in what was its biggest brand campaign to date.

The company sold 525m litres of products during the year.

Looking ahead, Mr Steven said: “We expect to increase our market share in 2017 with above market double-digit growth.

“We can also confirm that HSBC remains our banking partner.

“Its support for our business strategy enables us to continue to invest across people, bottling facilities and our product portfolio to ensure we are able to meet increasing consumer demand for healthier hydration choices.”

Last year was the company’s first full year of distribution via Lucozade Ribena Suntory.

This long-term agreement has helped Highland Spring achieve greater sale and distribution of its range into the impulse and convenience channels, contributing to a total volume sales increase of 7.1% in the year.

Turnover for the year dipped from £103m to £100m, partly due to a lower sale price achieved under the distribution agreement.

Picture: Steve MacDougall. Top: The Queen was given a tour of the Highland Spring plant in Blackford in July by operations director Bryan McCluskey and, above, finance director Mark Steven.