Twelve years ago, Community Housing Cymru set up an Award scheme to recognise housing innovation in memory of a special person - Pat Chown. Pat gave a big part of her life to helping others and spent much of her working life in helping to meet people's housing needs in Wales.
Gwynedd-based horticulture, catering and joinery social enterprise tells us what makes the business a success, and about its plans to grow the organisation further.
In the Water: Profile of Dŵr Cerist/Agoriad
Date: 27.04.2011
This Welsh mineral water plant in Dolgellau employs three staff and seven volunteers – most with learning disabilities - and sells it wares to shops, cash & carries and restaurants
The bottled water market in Britain is huge, with about two billion litres sold every year to thirsty consumers. And, while that market is packed full of private companies, social enterprises, such as Belu and One are taking corners of it.
And, since 2009, Snowdonia-based social enterprise Agoriad Cyf (Ltd) has been producing mineral water brand Dŵr Cerist, which is now creeping into the market in Wales, with a current turnover of £30,000.
The water sourced is just below Dolgellau, and the bottling plant serves as a place where people who are disadvantaged in the job market can get real life work experience in the production, marketing and distribution of a popular product.
The business employs three staff and has seven volunteers with a range of learning disabilities. It improves their job prospects in an increasingly competitive job market.
Customer focus
Bottling is done three days a week and 70 cases of water, each containing twenty-four 500ml filled plastic bottles are produced and distributed to companies in Mid and North Wales. Customers include shops, cash & carries and hotels and restaurants, which can have their individual branding placed on bottles, alongside the Dŵr Cerist logo.
Growing gently
The business is steady and is just starting to break even financially. Expansion plans are tentative explains Sioned Jones, employment officer.
“We want to take our time to grow and not expand too quickly,” she says. “We do everything manually, because that’s what creates jobs. It means our competition can sell water more cheaply sometimes, but we have a unique selling point because of our social enterprise principles.
She adds: “We’re looking forward to being part of the Welsh Social Enterprise Coalition as we grow, and feeling more connected to other social enterprises through it.”
To see more and order the water, click here: www.dwrcerist.com.
To read more about Agoriad and its range of social enterprise ventures, click here: www.agoriad.org.uk
