Radnor Hills, the family-run mineral water and soft drinks company based in Knighton, has revealed ambitious plans to double turnover in the next five years by putting skills development at the heart of its expansion.

The 140-worker firm, which has just celebrated its 25th anniversary, aims to boost production from 175 million to 300 million bottles a year by investing in new equipment and product innovation.

But founder and managing director William Watkins said building new skills will be a vital component in the project.

He attributes much of the firm’s success over the past 25 years to a consistent investment in the skills of all its employees, regardless of age, and the company’s ongoing pledge to encourage lifetime development and career progression. Radnor Hills consistently gives its employees opportunities to learn new skills and hone their abilities.

It’s not unusual for two or three generations of the same family to work at Radnor Hills and the company’s workforce retention is extremely impressive with staff turnover figures only a tenth of the national average at just 1.5% per annum.*

Aiming to build on its success to date, Radnor Hills will this year implement an extensive new training programme for employees in order to instil leadership qualities and strengthen the growing sales team to facilitate further growth.

Radnor Hills is one of the growing number of employers in Wales taking up the challenge to invest in skills as the route to growth and profitability. Under its Age of Investment campaign, linked to its Skills Implementation Plan, the Welsh Government is urging firms to view the skills of their staff as an essential asset in which they need to invest time and money in order to progress and succeed.

The most recent Employer Perspectives Survey carried out by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills showed that 67% of the 2,000 Welsh employers who responded had provided some training in the previous 12 months - with 55% offering internal training and 42% providing external training opportunities.

Mr Watkins said: “Ongoing staff development is key to our company. Most of our staff live locally, and many have family members who also work within the company.

“We are a relatively large employer in a rural area with a small population. We have a huge responsibility to those we employ to offer them job security and career prospects. There’s no doubt in my mind that we would not have achieved the growth and position we now enjoy without a really loyal and valuable workforce.”

Recently, the accounts, logistics and administrative teams have received intensive training provided by Pinnacle in a new accounts system which has hugely improved the accuracy, reporting, and forecasting of the business and streamlined accounts and credit control functions.

Cousins Tommy and Adam Farmer have taken on responsibility for building the stocktaking side of this software with their input key to the accuracy of the company’s stock-holding of raw material and finished goods, raw material ordering and cost-control functions, and despatched goods records.

Julie James, Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology urged more employers to invest in the skills of the workforce: “Higher skill levels are essential to the future of competitiveness of Wales, but achieving the degree of upskilling required means that more employers must be willing to invest their own resources in training and development.

“Welsh Government remains completely committed to supporting the development of skills across Welsh industry – particularly in the priority sectors – but, in order to make a real difference to our wealth creation capacity as a nation, more employers must play their part and increase their investment in their workers of all ages.”

For more information on the Welsh Governments campaign to retain and train workers of all ages, visit: https://business.wales.gov.uk/skillsgateway/age-investment