A Pembrokeshire company’s £5.5m investment in a major expansion project that will double staff numbers and almost quadruple production volumes was announced today (Tuesday).

Princes Gate Spring Water is expanding its production facility, investing in a new state-of-the-art bottling line capable of producing 37,000 bottles an hour, and sinking two new bore holes.

This will increase annual production from approximately 85 million bottles to a potential 370 million.

Over the next three years it will create 25 new jobs bringing the total employed on site to over 50.

The project is supported by £250,000 business finance from the Welsh Government.

Economy minister Edwina Hart said: “ It’s always good news to hear of indigenous businesses continuing to grow and create jobs and I am delighted the Welsh Government is able to support this latest very significant expansion.

“This investment will create a range of news jobs in rural Wales and help Princes Gate Spring Water - one of our iconic Welsh brands - reach new markets, both in the UK and overseas and increase turnover.”

Operations director Endaf Edwards said: "This has been the most significant investment and expansion since we started 24 years ago and support from the Welsh Government means we will be able to take advantage of a major new business opportunity. Without this support we would not have been able to take on these new customers, and the additional business and jobs would have been lost to Wales.”

The family business has a UK wide customer base, supplying leading supermarkets and is now started exporting to Dubai, Japan and Hong Kong.

Work on the new 33K sq metre extension, to include the new production area and goods area, should be completed later this month.