Radnor Hills acquires Highland Spring Group’s Welsh production site

The acquisition of the Swansea facility includes a 40-acre water source in the heart of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

The Highland Spring Group is the UK’s largest bottled water company and the Blaen Twyni site has serviced major UK supermarkets with still, sparkling and flavoured natural source water drinks for several years.

A key business priority for the independent, family-owned Radnor Hills has been to find an expansion opportunity in Wales that mirrors its other manufacturing base in Knighton, Powys.

Established in 1990, the Welsh drinks manufacturer has a turnover of £64.4m and produces over 400 million drinks every year. Its brands include a full range of Radnor Hills spring water, Heartsease Farm, Radnor Splash, and Radnor Fizz.

Commenting on the deal, William Watkins, founder and managing director of Radnor Hills said: “The Blaen Twyni site presented us with the ideal opportunity to expand our capacity with a plentiful source of pure natural Welsh spring water, which complements the supply of pure water we already have at our source in Heartsease.​

“We’re excited to welcome the highly skilled and dedicated workforce from Blaen Twyni to our Radnor family. The opportunity for us to continue to safeguard jobs in Wales and to offer further employment opportunities to the local area in the fullness of time is extremely important to us.”​

Simon Oldham, managing director of Highland Spring Group, said he was pleased to have agreed the deal and extended thanks to the operations team for their professionalism and support during the transition.

“We wish them and the team at Radnor the very best for the future,”​ he added.

In terms of Highland Spring's own future, Oldham said the business will be focused on driving its growth further, as the UK's leading plain bottled water brand, investing and developing ​in sustainable products which provide healthy hydration.