Wenlock Spring plans new products, more staff and further green focus
A Shropshire water brand has set its sights on new products, new staff and ramping up its efforts to become more energy efficient.
Wenlock Spring, which has 45 staff, is looking ahead to the next 12 months with a number of big plans in the pipeline, including the possible launch of flavoured drinks.
"The outlook is good and we are positive about the next 12 months," said Matthew Orme, director of Wenlock Spring.
"We are looking forward to welcoming more people into the team and over the next 12 months there will be vacancies for more staff. We want to support the local economy, with wages going into the Shropshire area.
"We will at some point look at launching a range of flavoured drinks too," he added.
"That will be new for Wenlock because traditionally we have been mainly spring or natural mineral waters. So it will be new for us and that's exciting. It will be a premium drink.
"It will open up new markets as well as supporting existing ones we are trading in. That's part of the game plan before the end of the year.
"We want to look at pushing on with our sales in the hospitality and food service sector."
The second generation family business is based at Wolverton, near Church Stretton.
The firm’s whole bottling process takes place on its site in South Shropshire where it recycles 99 per cent of all packaging.
It has recently launched a new returnable/refillable service for glass bottles as part of its continued efforts towards embracing a more environmentally responsible approach to its packaging and that's the something the business is keen to drove forward.
Through its partnerships with Milk & More and Again, Wenlock Spring’s still and sparkling glass bottles can be collected from customer’s doorsteps, sorted and sterilised before being returned to its bottling plant for refilling.
"We will continue to push with the returnable glass initiative," Matthew added. "It's something we are passionate about and we are continually implementing new procedures and infrastructures to improve sustainability and reduce our impact on the environment."
Wenlock Spring has also grown a miscanthus crop on its land to fuel its carbon-neutral biomass system, which is used for hot water and heating.
