Abbey Well already a winner at London 2012

Nov 29 2008 by Chris Knox, The Journal

AMINERAL water company which started out as a small family-run business in rural Northumberland is to be part of the London 2012 Olympic Games under plans by new owner Coca-Cola.

The US soft drinks giant, which bought Morpeth-based Waters & Robson earlier this month for an unnamed sum, is to rebrand its biggest selling Abbey Well water brand as Schweppes Abbey Well, which will be offered to athletes taking part in the Games as part of Coke’s sponsorship deal.

The US corporation is also to use the new brand to front a fitness campaign in the run-up to the event, which will include an opportunity for people to go swimming for free.

This is the first stage in its redevelopment of the North East water firm, which it said would include an investment into the site as well as its 91-strong workforce to help bring the brand to a wider audience.

Schweppes has a track record of developing UK companies as well as working closely with local communities, as in those of Malvern, Worcestershire, where it has been producing bottled water of the same name since 1851.

A Coca-Cola spokesperson said: “By bringing Abbey Well into the Schweppes brand we can give more people, throughout Great Britain, the chance to enjoy the great tasting, British, high quality, natural mineral water produced in Morpeth. We are committed to the workforce and people of Morpeth for the long term and believe over time the opportunities to grow the business are real.”

Abbey Well’s water is drawn from a 117m-deep artesian well beneath the Northumberland countryside, before being bottled at the Morpeth plant, which generates a turnover of around £11m.

Waters & Robson was set up as a soft drinks producer in 1910 by Thomas Robson, who handed over the reigns to his son Thomas Robson Junior after the Second World War, who in turn passed it on to his sons Tony and Michael in 1975.

In the early 1980s Tony took a strategic decision to move into bottled water, with the first run of Abbey Well producing a mere 20 cases, which he had to wait until were sold before he could produce any more.

The company, which will change hands at the end of the month, now sells 30 million litres of the premium branded water each year. Coca-Cola now believes that, in Abbey Well, it has found the right drop to rank alongside its 400 current brands, which it sells in more than 200 countries, and is currently in talks as to how it should integrate the Morpeth firm into its business model.

A spokesperson said: “Over the coming weeks and months Coca-Cola Enterprises will be considering how best to integrate the Abbey Well business within the company. At this stage, we do not have any plans or proposals regarding the best way to achieve this. As a responsible employer, CCE will consult fully with Abbey Well employees before any decisions are taken.”