Perthshire water firm Highland Spring has appointed former Vion finance chief Mark Steven as group finance director as it seeks to refresh its growth strategy and expand its range of products.
The Blackford-based group the UK’s largest producer of bottled water said bringing the executive on board would add a “wealth” of food and drink experience to its senior management team.
Mr Steven, who joins the group from his previous post as chief financial officer at the UK arm of the troubled meat processor, replaces Murray Falconer, who has moved to take up a new role closer to his home in Ayrshire.
Highland Spring chief executive Les Montgomery said the appointment came during a landmark year for the business, after its headline brand was named the number one bottled water in the UK in the spring.
The milestone signalled the end of 30 years of market domination by imported multinational competitors and helped boost annual revenues at the group to £86.4m during 2012, a rise of 8.3% on the previous year.
More than one in every five litres of unflavoured bottled water consumed in the UK is now produced by Highland Spring, either under its primary brand, complementary products including Speyside Glenlivet and Hydr8, or private-label supply.
The chief executive said that his group’s new strategic phase would concentrate on markets in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).
“In recent years we have grown significantly from a single brand to a robust portfolio business under the guidance of a strong management team, and Mark’s appointment will bolster this,”Mr Montgomery said: “With his extensive commercial experience, he will be a valuable asset to Highland Spring Group as we move into a new strategic phase beyond our short-term targets of becoming a £100m and 500m litre turnover company and expand our portfolio into broader FMCG categories.”
Aberdeen University educated Mr Steven, a chartered accountant, was operations finance director at Grampian Country Foods when it was taken over by Vion in August 2008, having previously worked in a string of divisions including its Thai poultry arm.
He was appointed finance director of Vion Food Group UK two years later, and led the sale of the firm’s UK businesses following the parent group’s decision to exit the UK market late last year.