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Douglas Laing plans £10.7m whisky distillery in Glasgow
Independent whisky bottler Douglas Laing has confirmed plans to build a £10.7 million (US$14m) Scotch whisky distillery in Glasgow on the banks of the River Clyde.
An artist’s impression of Douglas Laing’s planned £10.7m Scotch whisky distillery
Due to be built at Pacific Quay, the facility will also include a bottling complex, visitor centre, whisky laboratory and archive, and a new corporate head office for the family-owned company. The new venture will also see the launch of the firm’s Govan-based malt whisky.
The Scottish government is supplying a partial grant for the distillery project, and Douglas Laing will receive £855,000 through the Food Processing Marketing and Co-operation (FPMC) grant scheme – a £70m funding programme for food and drinks businesses across Scotland, launched in 2015. Douglas Laing will put forward the remaining funds.
Douglas Laing’s new distillery is expected to create up to 38 new jobs and increase the company’s workforce from 22 to 60 employees.
Cara Laing, director of whisky at Douglas Laing, said: “With generation three firmly entrenched, we undertook a strategic review and identified an opportunity to become a distiller in our own right with a dedicated bottling and warehouse capacity.
“We believe this will see the core business develop at a rate of 15% year-on-year, helping to grow our existing brands while allowing us to introduce new marques and seek out international markets.
“Instead of being perceived as an independent bottler, we will become a distiller, owning the production process from start to finish – from barley to the bottle – with an initial capability of producing considerably more than 100,000 litres of alcohol per annum.”
Douglas Laing’s Scotch whisky portfolio includes brands such as Xtra Old Particular (XOP), Old Particular, Timorous Beastie, Scallywag, Rock Oyster, Big Peat and The King of Scots.
In May this year, the company reported sales soared 29% during its 2016/17 fiscal year, and announced plans for further international growth.