FDBusiness.com

Princes is investing £15 million in a major extension and redevelopment project at its bottled water site in Eden Valley, Cumbria. Work begins in June on the project, which will include a factory extension to accommodate a new bottling line and construction of an office block to house a new laboratory, engineering workshop and staff canteen and changing room facilities.

The move will create four new engineering jobs at the site, which already employs 130 people. It will also increase capacity and offer environmental benefits such as reduced road miles to off-site storage and the ability for further light-weighting of water bottles to reduce packaging.

It follows a strong year for the bottled water market, which is currently worth £870 million, making it the fourth biggest soft drinks category by value and the fastest growing.

Princes’ investment is part of the business’ continual investment programme and will support the business’ plans to grow its Aqua Pura brand of natural mineral water.

Ruth Simpson, Corporate Relations Director at Princes, says: “This strategic investment consolidates Princes’ position as one of the UK’s leading soft drinks suppliers and reflects the strength and scale of the bottled water market. We are committed to ensuring our sites have the capacity and technological capabilities to not only meet customer needs now but also provide a platform for long-term future growth.”

The Eden Valley site was acquired by Princes in 2004 and has benefitted from a number of previous investment initiatives including the installation of a high speed production line, a natural reed bed to minimise waste water and a new purpose built warehouse opened January 2012. The site draws natural mineral water from what is believed to be one of Europe’s largest aquifers and the purity of the five accredited natural mineral water sources is protected because the site is set in an EU Special Area of Conservation.