Montgomery Waters' assets grow in £6m investment

Montgomery Waters, which is based at Churchstoke on the Shropshire and Mid Wales border, is increasing capacity after unveiling its latest bottling line.

The company, which sells spring and mineral waters under brand names including Celtic Spring, AquaVit & Aquaroma, has invested £6 million over the last 12 months supported by Barclays, allowing capacity to exceed 120 million litres per year.

That is helping it install state-of-the-art robotic technology, and is set to allow the company, which employs 55 people, to increase turnover to £24 million next year.

Montgomery Waters managing director Paul Delves said: "The new investment now allows us to have five bottling lines to achieve our ambitious growth plans, to double turnover in five years.

"We are already one of the top five independently owned water suppliers in the UK and you will already see our product in many of the leading supermarket and convenience store groups as own brand labels, combined with our growing own product range of Celtic Spring, AquaVit and Aquaroma."

Mr Delves added: "We are a family business that is big enough to compete but small enough to care.

"As demand for fizzy drinks decline we hope to treble turnover of our flavoured watered brand as consumers seek healthier alternatives to traditional pop.

"AquaVit was introduced in 2013 as an attempt to add further value to our core product by enriching our natural spring water with additional vitamins. Enhanced water as it's known has been one of the fastest growing drinks categories of Western Europe in recent years and enables us to diversify our income streams."

Found in an area of outstanding natural beauty, Montgomery Waters Ltd sits beneath a small range of former volcanic hills on the Welsh border.

The company says its spring and mineral water is infused with a number of minerals because of its passage through ancient rock formations.

Although the catchment area is wide-reaching, the company owns the critical areas of land around the sources to ensure the protection of its water.

Barclays corporate relationship manager Mark North said: "This is a significant investment in a highly competitive market and paints a very bright future for the business.

"By really understanding the business and the industry sector, Barclays has been able to deliver a funding package to support Montgomery Waters Ltd throughout this exciting development.

"A major investment like this demonstrates both Barclays and the management team's confidence in the success of the business. The investment has already secured employment for the 55 strong workforce and will ensure production targets can be achieved to meet growing demand for the entire product suite."