The new finance deal has allowed Purely Scottish to switch from renting its production premises at Oldhamstocks, near Dunbar, to buying it outright.
The purchase was crucial in enabling the company to secure long-term and direct access to natural mineral water sourced from its own organic certified land, as well as bottling and labelling it at source.
Purchasing the site is helping to strengthen the Purely Scottish brand as one of Scotland’s leading premium natural mineral water producers, which includes a range of still, sparkling and Fruit ‘n’ Vits flavoured water varieties.
As a result of the purchase, Purely Scottish is now predicting a sales growth of around £1.8m in the next 12 months by increasing its production and expanding its supply across Scotland and into the rest of the UK for the first time.
The deal with Bank of Scotland is also supporting 40 jobs as well as helping to create a further eight new positions at the Oldhamstocks site.
The news is the latest boost for Purely Scottish which has an annual turnover of around £1.4m and supplies around 12 million litres of natural mineral water to businesses, schools, retail outlets and major supermarkets, including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Aldi in Scotland.
Purely Scottish is currently running an exclusive fundraising initiative with Tesco to help raise money for Diabetes UK. For every special fundraising pack purchased, 10p goes directly to Diabetes UK to help us towards their £100,000 target.
Managing director of Purely Scottish, John Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, is an active member of the Executive Council of the European Drinking Water Cooler Association (EDWCA) and works to continually raise the standards of the wider industry.
Commenting on the new Purely Scottish deal with Bank of Scotland, John Scrymgeour-Wedderburn said: “It’s a really exciting time for the Purely Scottish brand. As the country celebrates Scottish Food & Drink fortnight, we’re now able to secure the future of our Scottish natural mineral water, which is sourced directly from our privately-owned site near Dunbar.
“Financial support from Bank of Scotland has enabled us to purchase our premises and plan significant growth for the business in the year ahead, which will include expanding sales beyond Scotland for the first time. Our relationship manager, Mark Lovell, has provided practical expert guidance and has continued to share our vision for the future growth and specialist needs of the business.”
Mark Lovell, relationship manager from Bank of Scotland, added: “Purely Scottish is a great example of a Scottish drinks company that has identified key areas for growth and has benefited from our financial support and guidance.
“We’re confident that they’ll go from strength to strength and continue to develop their reputation as one of Scotland’s leading premium mineral water brands as they expand the business across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
“Our experienced teams are well placed to support the anticipated growth in the food and drink sector by providing comprehensive expert financial services.”
In 2011, Water Coolers (Scotland) Ltd, via a wholly owned subsidiary WCS (Bottlers) Ltd, acquired the Purely Scottish brand, including production facilities and distribution. This acquisition has further strengthened Water Coolers (Scotland) Ltd position as the leading independent supplier of mains fed and bottled water coolers throughout Scotland.
Established in 1998, Water Coolers (Scotland) Ltd is now the largest independent water cooler company in Scotland, based in Kelty, Fife. They supply bottled and mains-fed water coolers and also a comprehensive range of hot water boilers.
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