24 October 2005
Joe Beeston, chief executive of Highland Spring Limited is being awarded an OBE today (Tuesday 18 October) in recognition of his services to the soft drinks industry in Scotland.
Beeston (58) joined Highland Spring in 1992, turning the Perthshire based company around from a loss making business to its position today as the UK’s leading producer of natural mineral water with 11.4% share of the UK bottled water market, producing 244 million litres in 2004.
Sustained investment of over £50 million in new operational facilities at the bottling plant in Blackford, Perthshire, combined with Beeston’s unwavering belief in the potential of the Highland Spring brand have been key to the continued growth of the business, both in the UK and overseas, where Highland Spring is sold in more than 50 countries.
Commenting on the announcement of his OBE Joe Beeston said: “I am delighted to receive this honour. For me, it is an acknowledgment not only of my own efforts in developing one of Scotland’s best known brands, but is as much a tribute to my team of 300 people at Highland Spring, who have helped my vision become reality.
“I must pay thanks to our owner, His Excellency, Mahdi al-Tajir, who has counselled me personally over the years and who has made a significant financial commitment to our development.”
“I would also like to acknowledge our many long term commercial partners, including British Airways, Connoisseurs Scotland and VisitScotland. Their continued support & enthusiasm has enabled us to build Highland Spring into the brand it is today.”
Beeston has a reputation for innovation and ranks his key achievements at Highland Spring, which he says he could only have delivered with the help of his “great team” as:
• Developing a state of the art bottling and warehousing facility in Blackford
• Acquiring the neighbouring Gleneagles natural mineral water bottling plant in 2001 and turning it from a loss making business into a profitable business in 2004
• Pioneering the UK’s first bottled water for children, a market sector now accounting for over 9 million litres annually (Source; AC Neilsen total take home market MAT to 14.5.05 by volume.)
• Establishing subsidiary Watermedia in 2001, the UK leader in the niche private sector label
• Displacing Perrier as the leading sparkling bottled water brand in 1993 to a position where Highland Spring sparkling now outsells Perrier by nearly 6:1 with a 13.1% share of this market sector (Source; AC Neilsen MAT for the period to 14.5.05, total take home market.)
• Achieving Superbrand status for Highland Spring in 2004
• Having the land through which Highland Spring flows accredited as organic by the Soil Association in 2001, the first UK brand of natural mineral water to achieve this status
• Seeing Highland Spring back on TV in 2004 for the first time in 10 years with an award winning campaign
• Celebrating Highland Spring’s 25th anniversary in 2004
As the business has expanded, Highland Spring has become an increasingly important employer in the Perthshire area. Its success both in the UK and overseas as the UK’s leading exported brand of natural mineral water, demonstrates its expanding role as a contributor to the Scottish economy.
Notes to editor
1. Joe Beeston is married to Lynette and has a son Richard and a daughter Joanne from a previous marriage. His main personal interests are Formula 1 motor racing, Newcastle Football Club, travelling and business strategy. Although based in his home office in Lyme Regis, Joe travels weekly to Blackford and frequently to key export markets including Japan, the US, Dubai, Middle and Far East.
2. Joe Beeston’s career prior to Highland Spring was in the alcoholic beverages market, where he worked for AH Higginbottom, Grants of St James, Enotria Wines and URM, where he was managing director running a £400 million spirits distribution business.