History
The Silver Spring Mineral Water Company was founded in Folkestone in 1888 as a carbonated soft drinks manufacturer. Originally located at Grace Hill, Folkestone, towards the end of the 1890s the company expanded and moved to larger premises in Foord Rd. In 1946 Silver Spring bought and merged with another local firm, the Harris of Hythe Company. Further consolidation of the local market came in 1969 when Silver Spring took over Star Mineral of Whitstable. In 1970 it moved again to a new facility on the Park Farm Estate. During the following decade it created the Rola Cola and Spring Up brands.
The company became the first company in Great Britain to begin production of P.E.T. 2litre bottles in 1982, and shortly after commenced own label production for the supermarkets. On May 6, 1995, the company introduced the Perfectly Clear brand of flavoured mineral water. Within two years Perfectly Clear became the 4th best selling carbonated drink in the UK. In 2008 the company was reported as producing more than 250m bottles of drinks per year.
Despite the success of Perfectly Clear, the family owned company was entered into administration on 16 September 2009 by Deloitte LLP. The company's assets were subsequently purchased by venture capital firm Privet Capital and renamed as Silver Spring Soft Drinks Company Ltd which continued the sale of the Silver Spring products.
Silver Spring Soft Drinks Company Ltd in turn entered administration in October 2012, with production ceasing in December 2012 ahead of the company being finally wound up.
Read more about this topic: Silver Spring Soft Drinks
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