Farewell To Innocence

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Local drinks company to move out of borough

A locally-based soft drinks company is to move out of the borough, Property Week reports.

Innocent Drinks, famous for its fruit smoothies and ethical outlook, currently has its head office at Fruit Towers in the Goldhawk Industrial Estate.

But the company has reportedly rented 24,270 sq ft of office space in the Portobello Dock development in Ladbroke Grove.

John Burns, chief executive of the company that owns the development, said: "We are pleased to have achieved a further letting at Portobello Dock. We are delighted that Innocent Drinks, a company renowned for its unique branding, will join this village developed with design at the heart of its identity."

We asked Innocent Drinks why they were leaving the local area but have so far received no response from them.

However, controversial plans to demolish the Goldhawk Industrial Estate and replace it with 57 new homes and eight commercial units sparked fears earlier this year that Innocent would be forced out. Although the plans were approved by the Council in September, the application has since been called in by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, making it unclear whether the scheme, dubbed the 'Goldhawk Block', will go ahead or not.

Last April, Innocent Drinks made the controversial decision to sell a minority stake in their business to Coca-Cola.

Under the deal, Coca-Cola invested £30m for a 10-20% stake. Innocent said they intended to use the money to take the business "to the next level of success in innovation and expansion across Europe”.

Innocent is a company with an ethical ethos, and produces smoothies using fruit from farms with high social and environmental standards. They use 100% recycled plastic bottles and donate 10% of their profits every year to charity.

December 24, 2009