Born: 23 February, 1947, in London.
Died: 25 February, 2008, in Exeter, aged 61.
AS CHIEF executive of Highland Spring for the past 16 years, Joe Beeston was credited with turning the previously little-known brand into the UK's leading producer
of bottled water and a globally recognised Scottish icon. Two of his proudest achievements were displacing Perrier as the leading brand of sparkling water in Britain and ousting Volvic from the No 2 spot (behind Evian) in overall UK sales of mineral water, domestic or foreign.
Respectfully known by his 300-strong "family" (his staff) as "Wee Joe", Beeston was the driving force behind winning "organic" status for Highland Spring in 2001, the first bottled water brand to be granted such status by the UK Soil Association, because it springs from organic land beneath the Ochil Hills.
He also prided himself on pioneering mineral water for children, to wean them away from sugary drinks, introducing Highland Spring for Kids in 2001 and adding a sparkling version last year.
Beeston was described by his peers within the soft drinks industry as "part maverick, part elder statesman and, most of all, a natural marketer". It was the latter gift that saw Highland Spring's name and tartan sash logo beamed worldwide – on David Coulthard's Formula One car and the shirts of tennis ace Andy Murray and snooker stars Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan, all of whom he considered family friends.
Murray was a natural for Highland Spring, being a native of Dunblane, only 15 miles from the mineral water catchment area and bottling plant at Blackford, near Gleneagles in Perthshire.
When he took over as chief executive in 1992, Beeston was well aware that for a brand to become big, it had to look big. He immediately had his humble bottled water punching above its weight, first by negotiating a deal with British Airways, later by ensuring sports advertising agencies got his label, with its tartan sash, seen at top sporting events.
In recent months, even after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer last August, he was involved in Highland Spring's campaign to bring the 2014 Commonwealth Games to Glasgow.
Typical of his charm and marketing skill were his actions when security forces overran Gleneagles and Auchterarder in 2005 for the G8 summit of world leaders. They demanded to tramp across Highland Spring land to keep out protesters or would-be terrorists. No problem, replied "Wee Joe", so long as the world leaders were photographed drinking Highland Spring.
Joseph James Beeston was born in Camden Town, London, but the family moved to Newcastle when he was 11, converting him into a lifelong Newcastle United fanatic.
He left school as soon as he could, aged 15, and began his career in the drinks industry as an office boy, first with wine importers AH Higginbottom, then with the renowned Grants of St James's.
He later worked as sales director for Enotria Wines, moving on to United Rum Merchants (URM) before taking up the reins at Highland Spring in 1992. He continuing to base himself in England, latterly in Lyme Regis, Dorset, though visiting the Blackford plant weekly and touring the world to promote the brand.
For a decade after he took over, the company lost money. Now Highland Spring exports to 50 countries, its key markets the United States, Japan, the Caribbean and Hong Kong, and had a record turnover in 2006 of £54.2 million, with pre-tax profits of £4.1 million.
It is owned by Dubai billionaire Mahdi al-Tajir, who has an 18,000-acre estate in Perthshire, although there have been persistent reports of Coca Cola attempting to buy the company.
Beeston was passionate not only about the brand he built from almost nothing, but about mineral water in general. During one of the periodical "mineral water is a waste of money, tap water is just as good for you" series of media stories, he wrote a letter to the Independent attacking the claim that drinking bottled water was "environmental insanity".
He wrote: "What would happen if bottled water were banned? Would people turn to tap water? No. Consumers would simply revert to other soft drinks, so there would be … no fewer bottles going to landfill or less energy consumption. Tap water and bottled water have different functions and are regarded by consumers as complementary products, not competitors."
Beeston was awarded an OBE in 2005 for his services to the soft drinks industry. He is survived by his wife, Lynette, his children, Richard and Joanne, and their mother, his first wife, Maggie, who remained a close friend of the family.
The full article contains 778 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
