Radnor Hills founder, William Watkins, has been inaugurated as the new President of the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA).

His tenure began with a plea to the Welsh Government to ease the path for a nationwide recycling initiative.

Mr Watkins, assumed his new position at the trade body's AGM on June 11, succeeding Paul Graham, GB Managing Director at Britvic.

The CEO of Radnor Hills which is based on the edge of Knighton in Powys said: "I am delighted to be elected as the new President of this important organisation.

"It is such a crucial time for the industry as we head towards setting up a Deposit Return Scheme, along with retailers and alcohol producers, to deliver a realistic and practical system to return and recycle our containers in a more sustainable way."

Radnor Hills is based  on the edge of Knighton in Powys   (Image: Radnor Hills)

His focus centres on continuing to progress in matters concerning soft drinks, especially relating to the reduction of litter and increasing recycling.

Mr Watkins has also voiced concern over the delayed go-live date of England's DRS, pushed back to October 2027.

He added: "The Welsh Government continues to be an outlier in calling for the inclusion of glass within scope of its DRS.

"A lack of alignment in this area would create different market conditions within Great Britain, something which carries the potential to confuse consumers and impede efforts to achieve the high collections rates of PET and aluminium beverage containers necessary to fuel the circular economy for beverage packaging."

In his new role, Mr Watkins aims to use his platform to promote the contributions of the soft drinks industry in the economic sphere, as well as highlighting the variety of drinks that BSDA members offer, particularly those in the low-calorie sector.

Pete Charles, managing director at Red Bull since 2018, will take up Mr Watkins' previous position as vice president.

The BSDA represents UK producers of soft drinks, representing a significant proportion of Britain’s soft drinks manufacturers, as well as franchisors, importers and suppliers.

Radnor Hills is Wales’ largest independent soft drinks producer, and it produces more than 400 million drinks a year.


Mr Watkins recently transitioned to CEO following the appointment of Simon Knight as the new managing director