James Cain OBE

James began and developed his management skills as ASDA’s youngest ever General Manager, when he was given overall responsibility for launching and operating their newest and largest distribution depot; employing 1,200 staff and servicing the ASDA network across the North West. James joined Harrogate Spring Water in 2006 with the turnover of £4m and was able to implement improvements across the business from production to logistics. James became Managing Director in 2011 and has transformed the business over recent times following major expansion in production capacity, taking sales from £4 million in 2006, to a turnover of over £14 million by the end of March 2016. In 2016 the business was named in The Grocer’s Fast 50, as one of the fastest growing private food and drink companies in the UK. One of James’ proudest achievements has been the launch of ‘Thirsty Planet’ spring water, a dedicated charity brand, all bottles sold include a guaranteed donation to Pump Aid. So far, Thirsty Planet has contributed more than £1.8 million, providing over 1,350,000 people with clean, safe drinking water across rural sub-Saharan Africa.