The annual conference for UK bottled water producers is held at various venues around the UK. This year it was held at the prestigious Glen Eagles Hotel, and included a site visit to Highland spring, the UK’s leading bottled water producer. Another visit also included was a tour of the Tullibardine whisky distillery, which provided an ideal complimentary experience.

Managing Director Keith Silcock presented his paper ‘Partnership approach to emergency supplies’. He described how Water Direct functions in relation to bottled water producers and corporate end users, principally the water utilities. The service provided by WD facilitates the flow of quality assured bottled water in adequate quantities to the site of any incident in the UK within hours of the requirement being confirmed. Much of the service involves the assurance and consistency of this supply, anticipating threats to availability based on some 15 years of success within the industry. The supply network has been tried and tested in every part of the UK and we have never yet failed to respond with the required service.

There is an apparent tradition of misunderstanding between the bottled water and water utility industries which is much exaggerated by the media. They have in common the fact that they both supply high quality drinking water for profit. However, utilities core business is to a designated customer base as a utility supply, whereas BW producers must operate in a heavily competitive retail market where their customers are offered a huge choice at every turn. In this environment Brand is of critical importance. On the other hand in the utility environment the bottled water Brand is at best irrelevant, at worst a disadvantage. This leads to conflicts of interest on occasion. WD is determined to accommodate these differences within our service so that each end of the supply chain stand the best chance of getting what they need, when they need it and at the best value price.

Share Article